


Angeltale ~ Angel V Angel

by Dragonsphinx



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Female Frisk, Frisk has parents, Geebus I started this ages ago I really have to finish this fic before 2017, Male Chara, Mixing AUs Maybe, Multi, Non-Canon backstories, Older Chara, Older Frisk, POV Alternating, POV Frisk, POV Sans, Pain, Physical Abuse, Protective Sans, Rating may change to explicit, Reader Is Not Frisk, Romance and fluff included, SPOILERS!!!, Sarisk, Serious Sans, Sexual Content, Swearing, There are more I haven't remembered so please keep an open mind, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:45:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5814778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsphinx/pseuds/Dragonsphinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The years have passed, but Frisk can't stop coming back to the Underground. After each Reset, she comes back again. She can never bring herself to Genocide no matter how much the Voice in her head insists on it.<br/>But this year is different. Everyone else seems to be remembering something too. And the monsters in the shadows have gotten tired of sitting back and watching the same show. Frisk soon finds out that just doing a Pacifist run won't be enough for a happy ending...<br/>What happens when the OTHER angel decides not to follow the script?</p><p>~#ObviousSpoilerAlertIsObvious! Please DON'T read if you don't want to spoil the game for you as there will be characters and points discussed that can/will ruin the ending for you! Undertale is a FANTASTIC game and you should totally give it a go first!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - For the Final Time...Again

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILER WARNING!  
> The spoilers start from this sentence downward so if you don't want to be spoiled for Undertale hit that back-button now ;)
> 
> So yer, h0I!  
> I'm going a bit Undertale crazy so decided to start a fic on it. (Sorry my Korra fic kinda went on hiatus because of RL but that's still on the map, gonna be posting more chapters of that later this week too!)  
> Anyways I LOVE LOVE LOVE Undertale so much. Toby Fox is a GENIUS for sure. Kinda fallen in love with a certain comedic skeleton, ^_^  
> Hope you guys enjoy this fic. Couple things to note: first is obviously have a quick look at the tags. If you're not a fan of Frisk being implicitly female, the idea that Chara is a different gender to Frisk, that Frisk is late-teens/early twenties, or of the Sans x Frisk pairing, I suggest you don't read. Sarisk is my OTP so I'm really going to indulge in it in this fic, but I realise there's a lot of Soriel fans - sorry but I personally really don't see Toriel & Sans as a couple so they're not going to be more than friends in this fic.  
> So yeah, as Toby has left quite a wonderful bit for the imagination as far as the characters' backstories are concerned, I'm kinda experimenting with stuff here. So yeah, AU territory.
> 
> Anyways, blah blah! Just hope you guys enjoy :) If you do, feel free to drop a kudos or a comment! Love to hear from other Sarisk shippers!  
> \------------------------------------------------------

Dear Diary,

I write for the final time…again. I can hear them downstairs. I can hear them all the way in my room even with my door closed and my pillow pressed against my head. The words they’re saying aren’t nice. The way they’re saying them isn’t kind. No matter how many times I hear them it never gets any easier. I feel cold, but not the way I do in Snowdin. Around me is dark, but not the way it is in the Waterfalls. Burning flashes go through me, but not the way they do in Hotland.

I’m scared. This is the part where I’m always scared. I don’t like this part.

Every time I worry the same way: will they catch me this time? Will I mess up, and give my escape away? If they chased me, would I be able to outrun them? Before, when I was small, I wouldn’t have wondered: I knew for sure they would have caught me. I could have done nothing. But now I’m not so small anymore, maybe I have a margin for error. I’m not going to test it though, I’m still taking the stealthy route.

I’m not so scared of climbing out of the window now. I know how to tie the knots with the sheets so they’re sturdy—I’ve done it so often. I know how big the drop between the ground and the rope end I have to compensate for is—I’ve jumped it a lot. I know which corners I have to pause and wait on so the neighbours who come out onto their porches won’t see me—I’ve evaded them numerous times. I can make it.

I’m going to make it.

This is the scary bit, the dangerous bit. This is the bit where it can all go horribly wrong, and if it’s going to go wrong it will go wrong here. But it’s over fast, and then I’m safe. I’ve just got to stay calm and focussed, and I can make it.

In the end, Mt. Ebott really isn’t _that_ far away…

~Frisk


	2. Last Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, first 'real' chapter. Hope you guys like!  
> Sorry about the delay. I blame mainly the lack of ideas. I was a bit lost as to how to put the idea into words.  
> One thing I should probably say is that, as you know this fic is based quite a few years in the future from the end of UnderTale, and so I'm taking slight liberties and saying that Sans has also grown a little in height. Take it for what you will.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Please do comment on what you think or leave a kudos if you enjoyed reading.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I don't own any of the characters, locations or concepts of UnderTale, their rights belong to Toby Fox. This is purely a fan fiction / parody not-for-profit work not intended to infringe the rights of the creator(s).  
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>   ** _~Last Chance~_**

_\---_

_I know she can hear me._

_I know she knows I’m here._

_I know she knows I’m listening._

_She knows I hear everything._

_Last chance. This is your last chance, my love._

_Last chance…before I_ give up on you _…_

\---

 

“Are you truly certain, my child? This is what you wish to do?”

Despite what Flowey had told me, that they’d all forget everything each time, I was beginning to think that even Toriel was starting to remember. In the beginning she had blocked the exit to the Ruins with the same vigour as the first time. But as the years passed, as I lost count of the number of the run I was on, I almost thought I noticed her relax. Her attacks became a little easier to dodge, then a lot easier. Or maybe it was really that I became more confident: that I first memorised the patterns and eventually they became etched into my being, like breathing. I can’t say. All I’m sure of is this: I didn’t actually expect her ever to just let me pass. Yet here we were.

“I’m sure, mother,” I said to her, nodding. _There’s nothing beyond that door that will surprise me._

Toriel nodded to me too, even though I could see in her eyes she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea even now.

“Very well, but please be careful. The Underground is not a safe place for a young woman to wander through alone.” Her hands twitched, like she wanted to step forward and hug me, but she clutched them tightly in front of her.

I raised my arms and stepped towards her, and she embraced me like every time. And like every time, I felt like I would cry.

 _I’ll see her again…_ I thought sternly to myself. _Don’t be stupid and cry, Frisk. You know you’ll see her again at the end. It’s not like this is goodbye forever…_

Somehow though, each time I was scared that it was. What if that was the last time I’d see Toriel? I stood perfectly still as she stepped back and regarded me quietly.

“Well, then…take care, Frisk…”

I didn’t turn around as I listened to her footsteps echo back down the hallway and eventually disappear.

_Everything is alright. Just don’t think about it._

It wasn’t that easy though. As I walked down the long hallway, listening to the rustle of my jeans and the steps of my boots against the stone floor, I came to the last cavernous room before the exit. A beam of light broke through the ceiling and illuminated the centre…which was barren. I hadn’t seen Flowey here in ages.

I walked through the silence to the door. A cold draught crawled along the ground from the other side. I pressed my hand down to feel it. It carried the scent of fresh snow and pine needles. The Ruins may have become the most difficult part, but what I was about to step into was by far the best. Because someone was lying in wait on the other side of that door. Someone dangerous…with really bad puns.

 

_~~~_

_~Our work is just beginning,_

_~This is the first exploration,_

_~We should know all of the Underground,_

_~Apparently there is more beneath,_

_~Perhaps will refer to it as ‘Below’_

~~~

 

The air was cold, really the kind that runs _through your bones._ Some light was filtering down from the world above, and the snow was glistening like diamonds. No matter how many times I saw it, that was one thing that didn’t get old. I leant against a tree just listening. Pap constantly nagged on about keeping guard, but you'd be surprised how much you can know about what's going on around you just by listening. There was no need to rush anyway. We were waiting, even if I was the only one who knew it.

A low reverberation shuddered through the ground: that told me the door to the Ruins had just closed. That would mean only one thing—the wait was over. I pulled up my hood and started walking.

I could already see her form through the trees. A black, hooded coat that reached down to her feet, jeans and boots with a little heal on them. She no longer paused at the Ruins' door, looking around like Gyftrot caught in the headlights, but walked ahead boldly.

Suddenly she stopped, made a point of stomping on the branch in the middle of the path so that it snapped, then continued. Heh, of course.

I stepped out of the cover of the trees, leaning on a fir trunk. She didn’t look back, but at the bridge, she stopped dead. Anyone else would have thought the action really unnatural. She stood patiently for a moment, then crossed her arms, signed and shifted her weight, tapping a foot. I tried to keep quiet.

“I can hear you chuckling, you know.” Petulant, a little sarcastic.

I sauntered over, hands in my pockets. I could feel the whoopee cushion in there. “knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“dee ja miss”

“Dee Ja Miss who?”

“didja miss me, that’s who.”

When she turned around she was smiling. “You say that one every time now.”

“maybe i should have said ‘dishes’.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Dishes who?”

“dishes a very bad joke.” She brought her hand out from behind her and lobbed a snowball straight at me. She got me in the chest, I didn’t see it coming at all. I held my arms up defensively. It was hard to tell what kind of arsenal this chick might be hiding.

“Don’t even.”

I peeked at her. “you’re smiling though.”

“I KNOW AND I HATE IT!” She burst into laugher. A peel like a crystal bell on a flawless morning. “I did miss you, by the way.” She glanced over the bridge. “Is Papyrus around?”

“making puzzles, as usual.” We started walking. I tried to recall what it’d been like when she was shorter, hardly half my height, because now we were equally tall. Well, without her little height advantage I was still better, of course.

“Still the same ones?”

“nah, i gave him the puzzle book you mentioned. he’s been working on…something. something that involves leaving the house in the wee hours without saying a word to me and coming back only to sleep.”

She bumped her shoulder against mine. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. You know Pap, when he gets really into it there’s no stopping him.” She gazed around, tapping her lip with her index finger. “I wonder which ones he’s picked this time. I tried not to read any of them since the book had the answers too, but I did skim over the titles. Some sounded kinda complicated.”

I shrugged. “well, if you can’t figure it out, you could just always ask him for the—”

Something moved. Behind us something rustled the needles of the trees. I turned and scanned the thicket. As if to say it was nothing, one of the branches slumped under the weight of the snow and dropped a white poff onto the ground. I glared into the shadows. Something seemed too...'solid' about them.

“What is it?” Frisk asked. She looked around worriedly.

“n-nah. just thought i heard something.”

She smiled a little. “Maybe it was just one of the Snowdrakes moving thought the woods.”

“yeah…” Maybe.

“SANS!”

As I turned back I heard Papyrus stomping through the snow towards me. I just about caught sight of Frisk’s brown ponytail as she ran behind a tree to hide.

“SANS! YOU LAZYBONES! WHY AREN’T YOU WORKING ON YOUR PUZZLES?”

“heh, i was just looking at this tree here. it’s pretty neat.”

“SANS! THERE’S NO TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN—!?”

At that moment his words were muffled by the snow as Frisk dove on him and toppled him into the dunes. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“Papyrus! I missed you!”

It was pretty funny, watching Papyrus freaking out that he was being ‘attacked’ while Frisk ran after him throwing as much snow as she could grab.

“SANS! DO SOMETHING! RESTRAIN THE HUMAN!” As he said it, Pap tripped and fell backwards in the snow. Frisk had just finished gathering a huge snowball and held it over her head precariously, wobbling toward Papyrus. I wandered toward her, grinning at my genius plan.

Frisk saw me...and caught on.

“Sans, don’t you dare!”

But she couldn’t exactly put up a fight with the snow-boulder balanced up high. With the slightest effort, I sent her tumbling into the snow.

Now if there’s one thing I’ve learned about this chick, it’s that you should never give her a reason to start a snowball fight. So I don’t know what possessed me to do it, or why I let Papyrus get riled up to the point of attacking with full, snow-hurtling power, but in a few minutes we were at war. The snowy landscape was our battlefield and it was every woman and skeleton for themselves. At one point Pap broke free and sprinted off. Frisk took chase and we caught up with him at the frozen lake near His and Her stations. He was just crouching there, with his back to us, but when Frisk got close enough he turned holding an armful of snowballs.

“NO MERCY!!” he bellowed and the two were off.

I held back, watching them skidding on the ice, Frisk more than once landing neatly on her backside.

“What are you laughing at Sans?” She turned to me with a mock indignant glare.

“oh nothing. but i must say you have a very graceful way of getting your ass handed to you in a snow fight.”

“Is that so?” She got to her feet, legs shaking from exhaustion and imbalance. The boots weren’t doing her any favors right now. “Maybe you should come over here and see what I can do for yourself,” she laughed.

The ice groaned and rumbled.

“hold on frisk! i don’t think you should move.”

She kept laughing. “So you acknowledge my power at last then?”

“frisk stop!”

It all happened in a second. Something moved behind her. At the edge of the trees…that shadow. Faceless, formless. There was a flash of a smile and a hand cutting down through the air, like striking down a bird mid-flight. Frisk’s heart shone red, crimson, deeper and darker than usual. She stopped laughing and paled. The crimson force pushed her down. The ice broke. My body moved on instinct, doing the only thing that occurred to it. Papyrus got the same thought. We called bones to rise and catch her as she fell, but that’s when the shadow swung his arm again.

Frisk jerked to the side mid-fall.

Our attacks, meant to catch, struck her hard instead.

Frisk disappeared.

A pool of red dyed the water.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Please do tell me what you think about the alternating Frisk / Sans POV. Like? Don't like? Neutral?  
> If it's too confusing / off-putting I will change it in future chapters, but for now I'm planning to write the rest of the fic in this alternating fashion - intending at least now to do it like this: Frisk first, Sans second.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. One Human, One...Something Else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO much for all the kudos! I'm so glad you guys have liked the fic so far!!!!  
> Next chapter is here, yay!
> 
> I just realised that I forgot to make a small note last time. Originally I wanted to use different fonts for the characters, but then realised that AOx3 doesn't like different fonts (or at least I don't know how to make them work) so instead I use these (although you probably already worked this out):
> 
> ALL CAPS: Pretend this is Papyrus font  
> all lowercase: Pretend this is Comic sans font  
> ~Starting with the squiggle: Pretend this is Windings font
> 
> Anyways, onto the chapter now!!
> 
> Thanks for all your support!  
> Again, please do comment on what you think or leave a kudos if you enjoyed reading.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I don't own any of the characters, locations or concepts of UnderTale, their rights belong to Toby Fox. This is purely a fan fiction / parody not-for-profit work not intended to infringe the rights of the creator(s).  
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>    ** _~One Human, One...Something Else~_**

  _\---_

_She feels pain, just like me._

_She feels alone, just like me._

_She feels desire, just like me._

_Desire that burns like hot coals beneath her feet._

_She’s trying to shut me out, to not listen._

_I can tell it’s not working._

_You’re faking it, sister dearest. You’re faking it._

_I wonder how much longer you’ll believe your own lie?_

_And I wonder just what you’ll do when you no longer can…_

\---

I had a nightmare. Falling…falling into darkness. No…not ‘falling.’ Something pushed me down. And in the dream, I saw Sans. His eyes glowing blue, his expression one of fear. That’s how I knew it was a dream—Sans could never be afraid of anything.

Then everything disappears. I see nothing, hear nothing but the rush of my own blood in my ears and the desperate beating of my heart. It’s dark and it’s cold and I think that I’m dying. I can’t breath. I can’t move. I’m hurting, although I don’t know where or how. My eyes are heavy, and I want to sleep… Is it possible to fall asleep in a dream?

_“…sk…!”_

Just then, there is a light in the darkness. A blue light, and I see Sans again, and he’s reaching for me through the dark above. I look up, raise my hand, but I can’t move any closer. Why? My body is so heavy… But before I can worry, I feel myself floating closer to him. Our hands meet, he grabs hold of me, and he smiles. But it’s not a laughing smile…more like…relief?

_“…isk…!”_

He holds me close, then closer. I feel warm. I feel happy. I don’t want him to let go…now or ever…

He doesn’t let go. He holds me and I’m happy. I’m happy. Happy.

“frisk!!”

My eyes flew open. I breathed heavily, gazing around. I was in some kind of shed, lying on a bed of straw. A lantern was lit somewhere close by, but otherwise the room was dark. Then I noticed Sans sitting next to me, looking at me with worry. Papyrus behind him peered over his shoulder at me. What in the world just happened?

Sans sighed. “you’re awake. glad to have you back.”

“WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE NOT DEAD! DON’T DO THAT AGAIN!”

“Where am I? I said groggily, and realized just how sore my throat was. I tried to get up, but pain shot through my body. My head flushed hot. I winced and Sans pushed me back down to the straw.

“hey, take it easy gal. don’t rush. you’ve got a temperature.”

He held my shoulders for a few moments, I guess to make sure I wouldn’t just try to get up again. That’s when I felt the overwhelming exhaustion flush through me. I really _did_ feel rough. I raised my hand and swiped through the air. The small and familiar stat pane appeared, about the size of an A5 notepad. I looked at the two horizontal bars, especially the higher one that showed HP. There was only a small red line left, with the number 1 beside the maximum 20.

Oh. So that’s why I couldn’t get up.

Sans stared at the pane for a moment before turning back to me. “you really gotta invest in some better footwear. you’re walking on thin ice here.”

I chuckled. It came out weaker than I expected though. “That one was terrible.”

Sans squeezed my hand, and that’s when I realized he’d been holding it the whole time. I tried to say something else, but the thought vanished before it manifested into words. My head started spinning, and I was breathing hard. I coughed to clear my throat, but it just hurt.

“here.” Sans picked up a cup from nearby and helped me up to drink. It was a soothing tea. “you’ve got a bad fever. just rest here till you’re better, ‘kay?.”

“What happened?” I asked as soon as I could. “Last thing I remember we were having a snow fight.”

“YOU FELL THROUGH THE ICE,” Papyrus filled in. “WE TRIED TO GET YOU OUT FAST BUT SOMETHING ATTACKED US. YOU WERE DOWN THERE SO LONG WE GOT WORRIED YOU WOULDN’T MAKE IT.”

“Oh.” That would explain the drop in HP. But the ice had never broken before, even though I’d messed around with Pap on there in previous runs too. I couldn’t understand what I’d done differently this time. “Sorry to make a fuss.” I pushed myself up to sit and tried to move to stand. “I’ll get out of your way.”

Sans grabbed me just in time before the floor swayed and I crashed straight into him. I clung to his shoulder, waiting for the room to stop rippling.

“don’t be stupid,” he said softly. “best if you rest first. you’re safe with us.”

I did feel comfortable and safe. With Sans beside me, it was okay to feel safe. I let the darkness take me again, and felt him lower me back onto the straw bedding.

 

_‘Hello…sister.’_

I was here again, this cursed place.

“Why did you bring me here Chara?”

I stood in a field I’d only seen in my nightmares, dried grass at my feet. Corpses were strewn around, arranged in odd positions. Some slumped over a table as if they were having a tea party. Another was propped up against a dead tree as if reading in the shade, with another mangled body hanging by its neck on the bough beside the first. They were all defaced and skinned so that I couldn’t recognise them. The air smelled of ash and dried blood. This was the place he brought me…in my darkest dreams.

“I can’t say I’ve ever appreciated your taste in decor.”

Across the clearing from me, sitting at the end of the Dead Tea Party table, he looked at me from under the hood of his mantle. It obscured his face and body. He’d started wearing it a few years back, although I didn’t really know why he bothered. I could see his mouth though, and it pulled up to a wicked grin.

 _‘You have no sense of style Frisk. Is one not to decorate his home in the image of his own soul?’_ He hopped down and walked toward me. _‘And should I need a reason to call on my favorite sister?’_

I turned around and started to walk away. “Let’s stop pretending before we even begin. We both know I’m not going to listen to you, so don’t bother. I’m leaving.”

He vanished and appeared right in front of me. I jumped back from the surprise. _‘Don’t be so quick to judge Frisk. The world around you isn’t what it seems.’_

“I know and I don’t care. The Underground may have a lot of dark secrets, but I’m willing to accept them all for what they are. Alphys, Undyne, Asgore…Toriel, Flowey, even Sans. They’re my friends. You can stop whispering to me in the darkness now, because if you haven’t been paying attention the past ten years, I’m telling you to your face now that I’m not going to hurt them. Not now, not ever.”

Chara’s smile grew wider, then wider still, until he burst out laughing. He bellowed with laughter so wild that he staggered back a few steps, hunching over and holding a hand over his eyes and stomach.

A chill went through me. “You’ve lost your mind.”

 _‘IDIOT! You think_ that’s _what I’m referring to? You might not be willing to hurt them…but how do you know they’re not going to hurt_ you? _’_

I steeled myself. This was another trick. “I’m not falling for this one either. You’ve told me a million things—”

 _‘The last time,’_ he said coldly. _‘This is the last time. Last chance. Sister, you’re living a lie. You think this fairytale will last forever?’_ He stepped forward. _‘I am your mind, your other self. I know what you think and feel, and I know what you hide in your heart. Just because you’ve been ignoring me, do you think I’ve been ignoring you?’_

I turned again, facing away. I needed to leave. This was getting out of hand. But something kept me put. Something in his voice was different. But this was _Chara_. This was the voice that begged to slice through the hearts of everyone I cared about.

 _‘Yes, this is me, Frisk. I am the “evil within.” Hate me if you wish, but you know the truth as much as I do. We are one, you and I. We belong together.’_ He was walking towards me, hand outstretched to me. _‘No one will understand you, know you the way I do. Not even Smiley Trashbag.’_

“What?!” I spun around to face him and felt around in my pocket. A few years ago I had learned the hard way that the Toy Knife in the Ruins wasn’t enough to keep me safe—not when Chara decided to attack. And definitely not when… _he_ attacked… While I told myself there was no real need for having it, I hadn’t let go of the flick knife I’d found in my father’s bureaux. Now my fingers griped it again, and I couldn’t help a certain comfort that it gave me. Chara glanced at the blade and smiled mockingly at it, but stopped. “What did you just say?!” I shouted.

_‘You think I didn’t know? I just told you Frisk, I know what you think as well as what you hide in your heart. There are no secrets between us.’_

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, but my blood was running cold, while my cheeks flushed hot.

A light chuckle. _‘I know what you’re hoping for, sister dearest. Believe it if you wish, but you should realize how it will end.’_

I was shaking my head.

_‘There’s only one individual he truly cares about, you know. I think we both know it’s not you.’_

“Stop it!”

_‘But that doesn’t mean you’re alone. I’m here for you. You don’t need anyone else.’_

“Leave me alone!!!”

I struck out at him with the knife. The strike cut a deep gash in his hand. Chara didn’t react, but his smile vanished. He recoiled his hand slowly and inspected it as if looking at an odd stain, the blood seeping off like spilled ink.

I tried to calm my breathing, but I was hyperventilating.

 _‘I didn’t think you’d listen, but I was still hoping,’_ he said evenly. _‘It doesn’t matter if you refuse to believe. It doesn’t matter how often you_ refuse _. You can’t change reality.’_

I turned and walked away. I was shaking.

 _‘You can’t change reality Frisk. It will come for you. And when it does you’ll be alone. Except I won’t leave you._ I _will be here with you forever. You’ll see. We belong, Frisk!’_

But I refused. And the scene faded.

 

I woke up in the same room, sore all over but much less groggy than before. The fever had subsided. Now I recognized what this place was: it was the shed outside of Papyrus’s home. I got up, groaning at the pain in my limbs. My shoulders were bandaged. I’d been cared for…

“feeling better?”

I jumped at the voice. In the dark shed I hadn’t noticed Sans. He was sitting against the wall, looking at me calmly.

“Much,” I said and smiled. “Sorry to have worried you.”

I thought he’d come out with some kind of witty pun or joke, but Sans just looked at me silently, smiling gently in the half-light.

“I guess I have to get going. Undyne will no doubt have heard about me from Papyrus already. She’ll be raging mad by the time I see her if I take too long.” I pushed myself up slowly. I was stiff, but I could move. My hand went to the bandage. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

He seemed to be about to say something, then paused, and only nodded instead. I staggered as I stood, and he was by my side in a second, pulling my arm over his shoulder.

“should you really be up yet?” He looked at me hesitantly, and I noticed I was still breathing heavier than usual, my face scrunched from exertion.

“I’m fine, really I promise,” I said. “It’s just getting used to standing after laying down so long.” I thought and then realized. I hadn’t been too awake when I’d first woken up after the accident, but I could have sworn the shed had looked different; barer. “Sans how long was I out?”

He didn’t look at me when he replied. “…three days.”

“Oh…” I felt embarrassed first and then taken. They’d taken care of me…that whole time. I wanted to say something, but the words disappeared into a well of butterflies in my stomach.

Outside the snow was blinding after the dark of the shed. Once my eyes had adjusted, I was about to follow the river to Waterfall when Sans grabbed my arm.

“…do you have a brother?”

I stopped. “What? No…why?”

He seemed reluctant to answer. “you talk in your sleep.”

_Shit._

“I was having a nightmare,” I said and rubbed my head.

He let go. “y-yeah. sorry, forget about it.” We stood there for a moment, an awkward silence thick between us, me feeling like I should go but somehow like I shouldn’t. “be careful…alright?” He sounded…worried.

I smiled and shrugged. “What’s there to worry about?” But as I walked away, I felt uncomfortable.

_‘You can’t change reality Frisk. It will come for you. And when it does you’ll be alone. You’ll see.’_

“Everything is fine. Everything is alright…” I told myself.

But was it really? Was it anymore?

 

~~~

_~It’s becoming clear to see._

_~And it worries me._

_~They’re different from us, Below._

_~Yet not so different—they are really the same._

_~They want to be up here where we are._

_~I can’t let that happen._

_~The Core will be the answer._

_~I must hasten our work._

_~Something is coming and it worries me._

~~~

 

I watched her head towards Waterfall. I didn’t know what I was freaking out about, it’s not like I wasn’t going to keep an eye on her. But something didn’t sit right.

“SANS? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

“yeh, sure pap. hey, did you talk to alphys?”

“SURE. SHE SAID TO GIVE YOU THIS.” Papyrus pulled out a white sheet folded over twice. In it was written a block of numbers without any punctuation or break to them. “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO MEAN. I TOLD HER, BUT SHE SAID YOU’D KNOW WHAT SHE MEANT.”

I did know. The code was familiar…too familiar. It had been one of Gaster’s favorites, and as it was one of his quicker ones he often wrote instructions and notes between us in it. I’d quickly come to memorize it. If Alphys was using this to write a simple note… A chill slithered down my spine.

“welp, i don’t think it says anything important,” I smiled and shrugged. “i’ll go ask her. maybe she gave you a program code she was working on by accident.”

“HAH! I KNEW IT!”

“why don’t you go keep an eye on frisk in the meanwhile. i bet she’ll need someone to help her through all those tough puzzles in the waterfall.”

“GAH! OF COURSE! HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN! WHAT KIND OF AN AMAZING FRIEND WOULD LET HIS NEW BUDDY STRUGGLE WITHOUT ANY HELP?!”

I watched him bound off with such energy he made Temmies look slow. Good old Pap.

When my brother was out of sight, I took another look at the numbers in the note.

_—Tonight. Everyone is coming together. Things aren’t well.—_

That’s what the solution was. I walked behind the trees beside the river and teleported to the lab. Just outside of the door, beside the entrance, she’d written the number ‘612’. Another code, which meant they were all already here and they’d hide it if whoever arrived and simply knocked or walked in.

I leaned beside the door and knocked, in Morse code, the numbers ‘2’, ‘1’, and ‘6’. There was a pause and then some mechanical whirring. A smaller, secret door opened off to the side from the main entrance, with stairs leading down into the darkness. It lead to a single room, with a dimmed light and several computer monitors mounted on the walls. Asgore and Undyne were there already, and after few moments Alphys appeared from a second stairwell.

“i didn’t think you’d pass up a chance to chase frisk around,” I said as soon as I saw Undyne.

She snorted. “I’ll have you know it wasn’t a sacrifice made lightly, leaving that punk be. But don’t you worry, I recruited Temmie to do the work for me!”

I stared flatly at her. “do you even realize what you’ve done?”

“I’ll get them back under control afterwards!!” Undyne raged. “So sue me, I was under time pressure!!”

I could only imagine what hell Frisk was going through at the hands of a Temmie horde. On second thought, maybe it was better not to picture it at all.

“T-thanks for c-coming so quick you guys. S-s-sans. I called you here because…t-t-the results y-you wanted Asgore are done.”

“That is very good news,” Asgore said, nodding solemnly. “Have you also determined the purposes of the second human?”

“N-n-n-not quite y-yet. I’m…uhh…w-working on it?” Alphys wrung her hands nervously and shifted from foot to foot.

“wait a second, _second_ human? you mean there’s someone other than frisk in the underground?”

Alphys, Asgore and Undyne exchanged slightly baffled glances.

“W-well, y-y-yes. I-I-I-I thought you k-knew. At least o-one of the shadows i-is h-human for sure.” She turned back to Asgore. “T-the o-other one isn’t. I-I’m not totally s-sure _what_ it is.”

She ran over to the keyboard and started punching buttons. Video recordings popped up on the screens, from various areas in Snowy Forest. At first it looked like they were just recordings of the landscape with nothing happening, until a shadowed figure moved across each. She paused the recordings just as the shadows passed the camera.

So…it hadn’t been my imagination earlier after all…

“They look like the same damn person to me,” Undyne said staring hard.

“T-t-this one is a human.” Alphys indicated the two left hand screens. The figure was tall, well built, with a few facial features just barely visible. The short-cropped messy hair was a dark chestnut. Something about him disturbed me deeply. “T-t-this one i-is…something else.” The other form was fully shadowed, but now I looked closer he was shorter than the human. Also somehow slimmer, slender even. There was something formless and beautiful about him, like he was a silhouette that had stepped right off a wall.

Why did I feel like I knew them both?

Yet somehow neither looked familiar.

 _which one did i see at the lake?!_ I glanced between the forms, but couldn’t definitely pin either one onto the scene. Maybe it was the one on the right; the human was too tall to have been the one.

“Something must be done about this,” Asgore said gravely. “We cannot have these unknowns running free in the Underground unchecked. If they have malicious intentions—”

“Everyone could be in danger,” Undyne finished. “Do you think Frisk knows them?”

At this, they all turned to face me.

“i don’t think so, but i’ll check. she didn’t seem to be aware of anyone else though. i’ll talk to her.”

“Everyone, please do your best and track down these intruders,” Asgore said to us. “We need to know what their purposes are. Sans and Undyne, please find any evidence and information about the second shadow and bring it to Alphys. She will work on finding out whether they are a human or monster. If they both turn out to be enemies, please stop them as soon as possible.”

We agreed.

I felt a twist of discomfort in my stomach that I couldn’t quite put a finger on—like a splinter you can’t spot but can feel. It wasn’t until I was walking along the dark tunnels of Waterfall that I realised what thought had been haunting me. It had been what Undyne said: “Do you think Frisk knows them?”

Now I knew what I’d been thinking.

_Please…let her not._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter turns up the heat, so look forward to that ;3


	4. Desire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late upload! I may kind of have done my back in and been out of action for a few weeks. Anyway, I’m up and about again now, so that means more story!
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who’s been reading and giving kudos, you guys are SO awesome =^_^=  
> Anyway, things are getting real in this chapter, so in case anyone is worried about future content then the tags are your friends. Anyone who’s not bothered, then this is where the good stuff starts! :D In any case, I have now given fair warning, and have thus amply covered by butt ^w^ #VagueCompulsoryContentWarningIsVagueAndCompulsory
> 
> Two small mentions: I know the Monster Kid doesn’t have a name as such, so I made one up that’s just a bit quicker to say/type (LOLZ bet it’s not TOTALLY obvious how I put it together…)  
> Second, this is a small error but I do realise there are basically no echo flowers or weeds in the second room the Bridge Seeds appear (the one with the bell) in the game, but again I’m taking artistic liberties and saying some grew there ;)
> 
> As always, please do comment on what you think or leave a kudos if you enjoyed reading.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I don't own any of the characters, locations or concepts of UnderTale, their rights belong to Toby Fox. This is purely a fan fiction / parody not-for-profit work not intended to infringe the rights of the creator(s).  
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>   _ **~Desire~**_

_\---_

_Run, little girl._

_Run, run as fast as you may._

_But you can’t stop me,_

_For I’ve my eyes on you,_

_And I’m here to stay…_

\---

I staggered through Waterfall as fast as I could go. The sounds were still ringing in my head, so loudly I sometimes thought I was actually hearing it. I’d spin around, heart thumping, only to realize—relieved—that I’d imagined it.

“h0I! i’m Temmie!!”

The little demon bastards.

They’d showed up all of a sudden. Don’t get me wrong, I love Temmies. But there is nothing cute about a Temmie horde that inexplicably decides to glomp you. Honestly I don’t know how I survived.

I glanced back. Poor Papyrus. He’d stayed behind, valiantly fighting them off while I made away. I felt so guilty. They’d probably already trapped him in a giant heap of jabbering text-lingo fluff. No doubt they were going to force him to watch memes on loop while listening to the remixed theme song to Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. And still I couldn’t find it in me to be brave and self-sacrificial and go back for him.

_I’ve murdered his brother. Sans is going to kill me._

 

It wasn’t until I reached the chamber with the Bridge Seeds and bell that I stopped, leaning against the wall and breathing hard. I had a stitch forming in my side, and I’d been gulping air so hard my lungs burned now. For the first time I actually missed the psychotic spear-throwing Undyne.

Where was she?

_‘Reality will come for you Frisk, and you’ll be all alone.’_

“Shut up!” I put my hands over my ears, although it was pointless.

 

_‘No one will ever understand you like I do, not even Smiley Trashbag.’_

_‘You think I don’t know what you hide in your heart?’_

 

I let my hands drop.

I don’t know when it had started, but…Chara was right. I’d tried to kill it, to ignore it, for some time now. But whenever he was around…when…Sans…was around, things felt different. Warm. Safe.

Happy.

Maybe I’d imagined it, maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see, but over the years it was like he’d started smiling around me more. Started laughing more. Like a distance between us had slowly crumbled away. Now that I really thought, I could’ve sworn that before he’d always kept a reserved space between us, a chasm that he never fully let me cross. But now, he hugged me easily, he didn’t flinch if I touched his arm—he’d helped me stand without hesitation earlier. Being around him was so easy. His eyes were always so kind, his hands always so gentle.

And I wanted…what I wanted…

My heart was hammering like I’d still been running rather than seated for the last ten minutes. My breasts suddenly started aching. I crossed my arms over my chest, but the skin only ached more. It didn’t want _my_ touch, it wanted—

I shook my head, but memories rushed to me. The first time he’d held my hand softly. The first time we’d danced together at the MTT Resort, just for laughs. The first time he’d hugged me. Sans…Sans…Sans…

My cheeks burned. A heat was blossoming between my thighs. I was breathing hard. I was…gasping. My hand didn’t even have the chance to fly down before I cried out and the intense pleasure fluttered through my whole body.

I collapsed onto the hard stone, the coolness calming me.

“God,” I muttered into the damp earth. “I came…from _thinking_ about him.”

_‘He only truly cares about one individual, and let’s face it, it’s not you.’_

The high vanished as quick as it’d come.

_Why would he have feelings for me? What am I to him? Would he even want to know me if he knew the real me?_

Still…I wanted…I _wanted…_

I smacked my forehead against the cold stone with a few good thumps.

“I’m a moron.”

Something rustled in the weeds. I stood and brushed myself off.

“Monster kid?”

The sound stopped, then whoever rushed off away toward the hidden room. But they paused…they paused at the edge of the water.

I followed.

“Moki? Moki are you here? Are you looking for Undyne?”

There was no reply. The sound had stopped. I laid the Seeds so that they opened the narrow pathway to the hidden room. The white bench was there, but no one else. There wasn’t enough vegetation here to hide anyone.

“Maybe he went another way…”

I sat down. Just Waterfall and then I’d be in Hotland and halfway done.

Halfway…

Halfway to restarting. Halfway to having to bear another night on the surface. Halfway to the worst part that seemed to be getting even worse by the run.

Maybe I could stall somehow? Although every stalling technique I knew I was already using…

_‘Is the poor little girl all lost…and alone?’_

The voice made me jump.

“Who’s there?!” I got up and looked around, but I couldn’t see anyone in the darkness. The light of the water cast dark and beautiful shadows on the walls, rippling like magic. But now I couldn’t make out what was real and just shadows. I couldn’t see…

_‘Run little girl. Run.’_

The voice was off somehow. Why couldn’t I place it?!

“Who are you?! What do you want?!”

_‘Someone’s coming.’_

“Who’s coming?”

Laughter. _‘The nightmare is coming. It’s getting closer.’_

I spun around and around. I felt like someone was in the room with me, moving too fast to notice, staying just behind so I couldn’t see them. “What do you mean? Speak your name!”

_‘Enjoy your dream, Frisk. Slumber in its sweetness. It’s the last time you’ll see it. The next time…will be the nightmare. Sister dearest…’_

He ran through the weeds and I listened as the footsteps vanished into the distance. I sat down, dizzy from turning, blood running cold.

_Sister dearest…_

Now I knew why the sound was off. I’d never heard his voice _outside_ of my head before.

But how…?

I ran a shaking hand across my brow, damp with cold sweat.

The room was getting colder.

I thought I could hear voices around me.

I tried to stand but something held me down.

When I looked up I saw him. I saw him…and I screamed…

 

~~~

_~I can no longer track their movements._

_~They have all but disappeared._

_~I have sent three willing Below to seek answers._

_~In the meanwhile something else draws my attention._

_~Asgore spoke of someone._

_~The love between human and monster._

_~Safe? In a manner of speaking._

_~An emotion itself is harmless._

_~But such a strong emotion will not be content,_

_~to remain only emotion._

_~If something were borne between…_

_~They would be stronger than either alone._

_~Such power would only be safe in the hands of a kind heart._

_~So can we permit it to be,_

_~if its future may create something more monstrous than us all?_

~~~

 

Pap hadn’t been answering his phone for twenty minutes. I teleported from room to room, trying hopelessly to stay calm.

“pap? where are you bro?”

I was near the entrance to Waterfall when I heard a low groan. It came from a pile of snow near the water. No…not snow…it was…

“SANS! I HAVE BEEN…VICTORIOUS!” Papyrus staggered up from the pile of Temmies, shaking off the beasts that seemed to be unconscious. There was a sweet smell wafting from their midst, and along the ground were scattered jigsaw pieces and iPods.

I help up a hand. “it’s good to see that you’re okay bro, but i don’t think i really want to know the details.” I glanced around. “hey…uhh…where’s frisk?”

Pap struck a heroic pose. “THE FAIR LADY IS SAFE! IN ORDER TO KEEP HER FROM HARM I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, INSTRUCTED HER TO FLEE THE SCENE INTO THE INNER WATERFALL. BEYOND THAT…I REALLY DON’T KNOW. BUT FEAR NOT MY BROTHER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SEARCH HER OUT AND—”

“i’ll do it!” It came out too emphatically. He stopped and looked at me oddly. “i’m…uhh…i mean it’s alright. i can find her.”

He smiled again. “AH, IT’S GOOD TO SEE THAT YOU’RE TRYING TO APPLY YOURSELF AT LAST SANS, BUT I CAN’T HAVE YOU FALLING ASLEEP HALFWAY THROUGH LOOKING FOR HER.”

“i can do this bud. shouldn’t you really be checking on temmie village? you sure you got all of them? what if there’s more on the way?”

Somehow Papyrus managed to go even whiter than bone. “YOU ARE RIGHT!! WE MUST NOT LET THEM GATHER AGAIN!! BUT WORRY NOT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL FACE THIS THREAT AND DEFEAT THEM.”

Suddenly he picked me up by the shoulders and carried me over to the wall, sitting me down on a rock. “BUT YOU WILL STAY RIGHT HERE. AFTER I HAVE ENSURED THAT THE TEMMIE ARMY IS DEFEATED, _I_ WILL GO FIND FRISK AND BRING HER HERE.”

“you got it bro.”

He took off running down the corridor, shouting madly. Part of me really wanted to see this. I was kind of worried for him, but also for the Temmies.

 

Once the echoes of Pap’s voice had faded, I started into the Waterfalls. I’d have to do this on foot, if I didn’t know where she was it was the easier option.

I listened intently for any kinds of sounds. The Waterfall was quieter somehow now, like even the water was whispering, trying not to make a sound. Were the shadowed figures following Frisk? Would I hear them? No…something told me that I would sense them before I heard them. If I heard them move they would already be too close. Thinking back to Snowy Forest, it made a shiver run down my spine. How close had he been? Would he have made a move if I hadn’t been there?

_Uh…uh…_

I shook my head. No use worrying over it now. He’d fled back into the forest as soon as I turned around. I’d need to figure out a way to bait him into view again somehow. After that Alphys would be able to figure out more about him. There was too much we didn’t know: what he wanted…what he was waiting for…who he was. Who _they_ were.

_Ahh…_

I bit the end of my thumb. The two figures I’d seen…had they been the same person? I hadn’t even thought of it. What if I’d seen one of the figures in the trees and the other at the lake?

_Hah…ah…_

“what in the world is that sound?” I was suddenly aware of the soft, barely audible gasps. I looked around but saw no one in the open. Someone was…crying? No, the sounds were too slow and irregular, not like the steady rhythms of tears or wild racking sobs. Then…someone was afraid or in pain, calling out? I listened some more. No, too steady, even and short for that. So then what…?

The sound pitched suddenly, ending in a clear ‘ah!’ before disappearing completely. I kept very still, cheeks burning, now very unsure of whether to get closer or to move away. There was no questioning what _that_ was.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood there. Then the air shifted, turned cold.

“who’s there?!”

There was a faint rustle in the reeds as someone stopped. I wasn’t alone.

“listen buddy, you’ve been spotted. now i suggest you come out here and show your face, or you’re going to have a very bad time.”

Nothing moved. Briefly I wondered if he’d somehow teleported, but I could still feel his presence in the air. He was waiting, thinking.

The reeds moved, and slowly the shadow emerged. It was hard to tell which one this was, but then I caught a lock of chestnut hair peaking out from under the mantle hood.

“so…you’re the human that’s been running around here.”

No response. He just stood there, like a snake coiled and ready to pounce. He was still waiting…for something.

“i’m warning you, you really don’t want to get on my bad side. it’s just my suggestion, but i think you should open your mouth and tell me what you’re here for.”

Slowly, he raised his hand which went to his pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper, no bigger than a postage stamp. He threw it over. I caught it reflexively. It was a picture. A picture of Frisk.

He ran. At full speed he headed for the exit.

“stop right there!!”

A scream. I spun around as I heard Frisk’s scream fill the cave. I glanced back, soon enough to see the man disappear into the next room. I cursed and rushed toward Frisk’s voice.

It came from the hidden side room. I followed the Bridge Seeds that had been laid down. As soon as I turned the corner, I saw Frisk sitting on the bench, gazing up at bewitched walls, eyes alight with the spell. Fiendish shadows moved around her, ghostly voices taunting, chanting evil things. She was petrified.

_You are nothing…_

_Give up…_

_The nightmare is coming…_

“frisk! get up! walk away from them!”

Hearing the words, she glanced my way. She seemed blinded by the spell, unable to see me, but she still reached out, trying to get up. Something yanked her back down. She struggled to be loose, but couldn’t. She tried again, but was pulled back. The illusions moved closer.

“that’s enough!”

I summoned two Gasterblasters beside me and shot at the demons. The spell vanished, the monsters dissipating like ash. Frisk blinked and looked around, like seeing the room for the first time. I rushed over to her.

“Sans? Is that you?” She tried to get up again, but couldn’t.

“are you alright?” Now I saw why she couldn’t move: vines held her down. Something like vines…they were really more like roots. With both hands I pulled them off her and she shot off the bench back onto her feet, rubbing her arms.

“Thank you,” she said, calming down. “This isn’t very good of me, having you rescuing me all the time.”

“it’s alright,” I said quietly. “i’m just…glad you’re okay.” She stood off to the side, evasive. “did…umm…” I had no idea how to say this. “was there anyone else here a minute ago?”

“Huh?” she jumped a little. “Umm…what makes you think there was someone else here?”

I took a step and something crunched underfoot. I looked down, and noticed a scrap of paper. My heart did a little jump. I crouched, feeling numb. “i just heard some noises in the other room.” It wasn’t a photo at least, only a little note folded twice. “there was someone moving around.” On the paper was a crude pencil drawing. It was the symbol of Monsters: three triangles below a winged sphere, colored in. Underneath was a horizontal  line and the same symbol was drawn upside-down beneath, like a reflection, but instead of being colored in it was merely outlined.

Two symbols, one white, one black. And in the corner was written in small letters ‘tick tock’.

I pocketed the note. No reason to stand here staring at it now—Alphys would want to see it. Although maybe Gerson would be the better one to show it to first. If anyone was bound to know about the symbolism, it would be the old tortoise.

I suddenly noticed Frisk hadn’t said anything. She was standing very stiffly against the wall, looking anywhere but at me. Even in the dim light, it looked like she’d gone kind of red.

“what?”

“Umm…I don’t know,” she said, but her hand shot up nervously to scratch her neck. “I didn’t hear any sounds okay. I thought I heard Moki running through the reeds. Maybe that’s it.”

I was confused. “frisk, you’re red,” I chuckled. She looked at me then, and I realized she wasn’t talking about the stranger or even someone moving in the grass.

Suddenly, _I_ was the one avoiding _her_ gaze.

“Umm…so d-did you forget something?” she said. “You usually meet me by the telescope.”

“well, yeah sort of. there’s—” How was I going to explain this without accusing or scaring her? “you haven’t seen anyone around here since you fell down, have you?”

“Of course I have.”

I turned to her. “what?! where? who?”

She smiled tentatively. “Well, for example, there’s someone right in front of me now.”

Oh.

“i mean, like anyone you’ve never seen on previous runs.”

Her tone stayed light but her smile faded a little. “C’mon Sans, someone else fall into the Underground? You know that doesn’t happen.” Then her smile faded and she came closer to me. “Sans…there’s no one but us here in the Underground, is there?” She came all the way to stand beside me. We stood looking at the blue water, glistening like ghostly diamonds.

She put her hand on my shoulder. I relished in the soft pressure, the warmth that crept through the fabric. She was close, our eyes level, looking at me without reservation. I clutched the fabric of my pockets into a fist to stop my arms from wrapping around her and pulling her close.

“alphys called me,” I said. “she’s seen someone on her surveillance that she can’t identify.”

“O-oh…” Frisk went stiff. She pulled her hand away. “Umm…” She was about to step away, but I took her by the shoulders.

“you’ve seen someone, haven’t you? frisk, please tell me.”

“I…” She took a breath and relaxed. “I’ve heard someone moving around me. I thought it was Moki but…Moki always answers me.”

“that’s it?”

She nodded, but somehow still seemed reserved. We stood there in the quiet, unsure what to say. That’s when I realized my hands hand slipped around her arms and she had hers on my shoulders. We suddenly felt close…I could feel her warmth, could smell the faint floral scent. When had Frisk started wearing perfume? How long had I missed that?

“Sans—” She spoke quietly, like she was scared.

“you know you can tell me anything…right?”

She closed her eyes. “What if what I have to say makes you hate me?”

“nothing could make me hate you.”

She looked at me then, and taking a step forward, laying her head on my shoulder so that she was whispering to me, her arms about me. I couldn’t help it then, my hands wound around her, one to her shoulder blades and the other to the small of her back. She didn’t flinch, instead I felt her relax. She’d been holding herself solid, like bracing for a blow.

My heart hammered. She hesitated, but I didn’t mind. I could wait. It didn’t even matter if she never said anything, so long as she didn’t pull away.

She took a shaky breath, and spoke so quietly that if she’d been any further I wouldn’t have heard a thing. “It’s…Chara…I think Chara has escaped…”

“what?”

“PUNK!!!” Undyne shot from the reeds like a bullet. “If you think you can keep hiding from me, you’re dead wrong! I’m tired of waiting, so get your ass out here and face me before I bring this cave down on you!! And Sans, where the hell do you think you’re…” She trailed off, staring, eyes darting between us. Then, she smiled wryly. We shot apart, and Frisk blushed bright red.

“Well now, if you didn’t want to be disturbed you should’ve set up at Snowed Inn.”

“no! j-just wait a minute. this isn’t— we weren’t—”

“Just talking!” Frisk filled in. She was running her fingers through her hair like it was full of insects. “We were just talking, is all.”

“yeah! that’s right.”

Undyne wasn’t buying a single word of it. She kept grinning. “Sure, fine, whatever. Sans, good thing I found you though. Alphys said to give you this.” She tossed me an envelope.

“thanks.”

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

I smiled. “i got time. besides, i need to be somewhere now, so i can just read it on the way.”

“FINE!! Not like I cared what was in it anyway!! And I’ve got business of my own, and it starts with you, pu—!” Undyne turned to see Frisk disappear into the reeds and hurry away. The gal had impeccable sense of timing.

“well, i’ll just leave you to it!” I waved at Undyne’s angry figure as I teleported away.

 

Gerson wasn’t at his usual spot, so I’d have to wait till he returned. I looked at the scrap with the doodle in my pocket, studying it, but even as I did I couldn’t concentrate. I could still smell the ghost of her perfume, could feel the shadow of her hands.

“what’s happening to me…?”

Then the words came back to me. _‘I think Chara has escaped…’_

‘Escaped’…from where?

An electricity was running through me…I wanted to see her again, needed to know if she was okay.

I wanted…I _wanted…_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter. This is my first time writing anything even slightly sexual, so I hope it was a decent first attempt. It only gets worse from here! =^w^=
> 
> I will try to get the next chapter up much sooner. I've got a move coming up so planning to bosh out a few chaps before that as it might be another wait while that's going on.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	5. Two Angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Sorry again for another late upload. Thing is, after I recovered from pulling my back we found out that a place became available from the area we've been wanting to move to for YEARS so right now we're packing up our lives and emptying the house (so excited!!). But that and doing long days is just so tiring so not had much chance to write between "so busy" and "so tired". :P But I thought I wanted to upload at least one more chapter before the move! This one's a bit longer than usual so hopefully that makes up?  
> Being sans internet (pun very intended) for a while will mean that can't upload, but I'll work on the next chapter or two in the meanwhile. Hoping that next time it'll be a double upload! :D
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's been leaving kudos on Angel V Angel. I can't stop thanking you enough, I'm so happy you guys like it :3 If anyone is worried that I've abandoned the work due to the slow upload schedule, rest assured that I'm very definitely going to finish the fic! XD  
> Anyway, blah, blah, on with the chapter!! ^__^
> 
> You guys know the drill! Please do comment on what you think or leave a kudos if you enjoyed reading.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I don't own any of the characters, locations or concepts of UnderTale, their rights belong to Toby Fox. This is purely a fan fiction / parody not-for-profit work not intended to infringe the rights of the creator(s).  
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>  ~ _ **Two Angels~**_

The vault door opened easily. The blare of florescent lighting flooded in and blinded him. He flinched away, but couldn’t move further. The flower pot was too small to let him.

_‘Hello Asriel.’_

“C-Chara…you…came back.”

I walked in. _‘I’m hurt. You almost sound like you didn’t think I would.’_

“H-heh…me? D-don’t be silly. I knew you’d come back and get me, of course. B-b-but you know, if you planted me I could s-spy on them for you. H-heh. I could help you. Yeah!”

I picked up the flower pot and started walking. _‘Oh but I don’t think I can trust you in my absence anymore Flowey, not after that stunt you tried to pull while I was locked inside of Frisk.’_ We were almost outside now, the dark of the dungeon giving way to the light from the exit. _‘After all, if you destroy_ my other half _, how in the world am I going to be complete again?’_

“N-n-n-no, p-please that…wasn’t— I didn’t— I was just…capturing her soul for you!! I mean…when you were split between us…my whole intention was to make you whole—”

_‘Save it.’_

I dropped the pot on the ground and it shattered. The flower gave a squeak of fright and pain.

_‘Frisk doesn’t forget between runs, and so I don’t forget either. I know what you did those times that she lost to you. I can even recall each and every attack—every ounce of pain you inflicted on her. And I know for a fact that if I hadn’t called out those other souls within you to aid her, you’d be ruling this world by your lonesome.’_

Flowey shuddered as I knelt beside him on the ground. “N-now, l-let’s let bygones be bygones. I adm-mit, I wasn’t th-thinking straight but, that’s different now! After a-all, your sh-shattered soul is whole n-now that y-your other half escaped from inside of Frisk a-and joined again w-with the half that w-was with me. W-what was inside of me and her is together now s—”

I grabbed him in a fist and listened to him choke until he gave up trying to speak, and instead stared trembling. _‘Whole? You think my soul is now whole?’_

“Bu-h, I…though—”

_‘My soul was shattered into three pieces. In order for me to have a physical form in this world I needed at least two. That is what I have now. That is what I had even back when I first fell. But my true powers won’t return until I have the final piece, the piece that was stolen from me during that blasted war. Whole? I HAVEN’T BEEN WHOLE FOR DECADES!!!’_

I sent him flying. Flowey sailed through the air until he slammed into the rock wall. He thudded to the ground and coughed, trying to root himself in the sandy earth. “Please…forgive me…” he choked.

 _‘I’ve waited so many years for this moment, the moment that I am about to finally regain what is rightfully mine, and so many now try to ruin everything. Listen to me carefully, I was expecting Smiley Trashbag to stand in my way, but there are two others who think they can steal my prize from me. I can feel them; even these pathetic monsters have noticed them. But they’re hiding—which means whoever they are, they’re too weak to attack outright.’_ I paced back and forth, contemplating the presences I’d felt. _‘I can use them. Smiley Trashbag and company probably think I’m one of the intruders. They might be enough to cover up my presence for just long enough. As much as I hate that bastard comedian, I’ll need to strengthen myself before I can dispose of him. But if I need to make those two others disappear as well, I’ll need to know their strength. That’s where YOU come in!’_ Flowey had managed to pull himself together and was upright again, now almost fully rooted. _‘You are going to spy on them. Tell me what they are, and more importantly, how strong they are. Distract them if they get too close to Frisk. And if anything happens to her, report to me immediately.’_

The flower looked at me, wilting. “Yes, master Chara. As you wish.”

_‘If you fail me, you won’t need to worry about going back in that vault anymore either.’_

He wilted further. “Yes…master Chara. I won’t fail you.” He was about to dive into the ground, when I called after him.

 _‘Wait.’_ He looked up. _‘On second thought…there’s an errand I want you to run first.’_ I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. _‘That bastard comedian is getting too cocky for my liking. He’s being far too “hands on” with what belongs to me. He needs to be reminded of his place. So why don’t you pay a little visit to Asgore. I think he’ll find this budding_ “companionship” _…interesting.’_

“B-but…dad will know it’s me. It’ll turn awkward…he’ll be suspicious.”

 _‘You’ll think of something.’_ I grinned. _‘After all, he doesn’t need to believe it. He just needs to know about it. I believe the proof of it he’ll receive…_

_…from Smiley Trashbag himself.’_

\---

“What exactly do _you_ need a spear for?”

After the usual chase, and wandering through Waterfall, we’d reached Alphys’ lab. Instead of going home and sulking, Undyne had, for once, followed me inside. Once Alphys had calmed the worst of her excited jabbering and gotten used to us both being there, I’d decided to take the initiative and voice what was on my mind. I couldn’t put Sans into the position of eternal guardian in case something did happen to me. I knew the Underground probably as well as he did by now, it was _my_ responsibility to protect myself. But if Chara was free now, and if there was someone else here as well—like Sans seemed to suggest—then I had to start taking this seriously. A flick knife could only do me so much good. For the first time…I needed a proper weapon.

Undyne was leaning against one end of Alphys’ desk littered with instant noodles and notes, while the scientist herself worked away busily with a small machine at the other. I’d directed the question at Alphys, but I expected Undyne to be the one to answer.

“It doesn’t have to be a spear. Just…something like it, maybe.”

Undyne narrowed her eyes, fins flaring slightly. “I thought you had a ‘no kill’ policy. What do you need a weapon for all of a sudden?”

I raised my hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t necessarily need it,” I tried to placate her. “I might just end up carrying it around like the rest of this stuff I lug about with me without touching it a second time.” I nudged the messenger bag on my shoulder that was already starting to feel a little heavy. I’d probably end up ditching the whole thing again like I’d done the past five times.

Alphys suddenly looked up. “U-Undyne, maybe i-it’s not such a bad idea if she had s-something with her. Considering the…umm…circumstances?”

The two of the shared a meaningful look. I glanced between them. Were they in on the secret of ‘the other who fell’ like Sans?

“Yeah…I guess so,” Undyne said, giving in far too easily. They were definitely hiding something. “Wait here,” the warrior spat and marched off out of the front doors. No doubt she was just going home and coming back.

 

I sat with Alphys for the next twenty  minutes, watching her tinker with her gadget. “Umm…hey Alphys. Can I ask you something?”

She jumped, nearly knocking her work to the floor. “Huh?! Y-yeah, s-s-sure. W-what is it?”

“Sans said something a little…odd to me before. He said you’d noticed someone on your monitors that you couldn’t ‘identify.’”

She swallowed a little hard and glanced around—as if she was checking we were alone—and scratched at the back of her neck, shifting from foot to foot. I couldn’t decide if she was acting unusually nervous, or if this still counted as ‘typical.’

“M-me?! Uhh…w-well, o-of course it’d h-have to be me. I-I mean, t-there’s no one else called ‘Alphys’. I mean—” She blushed from embarrassment, hopping from foot to foot now, and shook herself. The speed of her speech picked up. “S-sorry, whatexactlydidhesayagain?”

“Alphys, I’m just worried about my friends,” I pleaded. “I couldn’t forgive myself if someone else turned up here and started hurting monsters and I didn’t even know about it. If there’s a threat I want to be there alongside everyone protecting the Underground. I can’t do that if I’m kept in the dark.”

She was spinning in circles now. “Umm…I’m just not….I don’t know…what if they…it might not…should I really…should really ask…” She suddenly stopped like she’d been shot. “N-no…I need to be m-more s-self-confident. I n-need to make my own decision about this and n-not just rely on w-what the o-other s-say. T-this… Y-you’re part of the Underground too, Frisk. S-so, this involves y-you as much as everyone.”

My skin tingled. “‘This’? Alphys what do you mean by ‘this’ involving me?”

At first she fidgeted and I thought she was going to start another nervous dance, but she held herself still. “I r-r-really don’t know how m-m-much I can tell you, b-but there’s s-someone in the U-Underground. They’re l-l-looking for him, S-Sans and th-the others. B-b-but don’t say I said anything!!”

Just then the front doors slid open and Undyne returned. Alphys shot back to her project like she’d been caught with a gun, but Undyne didn’t even glance at her, instead marching stiffly over to me. She extended her arm—although at first I thought she was taking a swing at me instead—and held out what looked like a curved dagger in a black scabbard.

“Here. You can throw away those bits of garbage you swing around now. If you need to protect yourself, use this.”

I took the blade. It was only the length of my forearm, but it was well crafted. It was eastern in origin, the handle bound with red silk, the ebony scabbard inked with gold calligraphy I couldn’t read.

“It’s a tanto,” Undyne explained and then leaned in close. “And if I find that you’ve used it to slay any monsters—”

“I will perform _seppuku*_ with this blade myself and ask you to chop off my head.”

She smiled wickedly. “Very good.”

The silk had also been used to add a long ribbon around the scabbard. I unwrapped this and used it to attach the knife around my waist. It felt light and comforting on my hip. But once I tried putting my messenger bag on, it knocked awkwardly and painfully on the dagger.

“I can’t walk like this,” I said, trying to shift the bag.

Undyne shrugged. “Why don’t you just shift it to the other shoulder?”

I tried it and walked around the lab a few times. The bag seemed to loosen the ribbon, but I decided to ignore it. I hadn’t made it back to the desk from the back door when the bag snagged the knot and the dagger when flying.

Undyne grinned as I retrieved the knife. “Nice.”

“Y-you could just p-put it inside y-your bag instead.”

“I can’t get at it quick enough if it’s in there,” I said, tying it back on. “I have to have it on my hip to keep it equipped.” I tried walking again, but the bag just snagged the ribbon a second time. I raised my hand and flicked up the status screen to make sure. No weapon equipped, just as I thought. I tied it on and checked again, and sure enough the Tanto appeared as my equipped weapon.

“Y-you c-could use the d-dimensional box o-on y-your phone…” Alphys offered.

“That’s okay, Alphys. I don’t think I’ll actually need this stuff.” I’d fought everyone and lived before. Last ten runs I’d only used healing items twice combined. “Besides, to use anything in the dimensional box I have to move it into my inventory anyway. I can’t do that without my bag.” I smiled at her and plonked the messenger bag on the floor by her desk. Alphys and Undyne shared another glance, this one concerned. “Seriously guys, I’ll be fine. Anyway, I prefer to travel light. And the MTT Resort isn’t far way; I can heal there if I need to.”

They shifted uncomfortably. I felt like there was an elephant in the room that I was the only one blind to.

“What?” I glanced back and forth between them.

They seemed to play a silent ‘no, _you_ tell her’ game between them for a moment before Undyne rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. “I’m not totally sure how happy Sans would be with you walking around empty handed.”

This took me by surprise. “That’s what _this_ is for,” I tapped the scabbard. “And I told you, I’ll be fine. I’m not going to burden him or anyone else anymore. You can tell him that, and that I’m aware that if anything goes wrong—which it won’t—it’ll be my own stupidity and I’m not blaming anyone else for it.”

I was sure that Undyne would laugh and tell me ‘that’s the spirit’ or something like it, and that Alphys might say I was ‘brave’ or even ‘foolhardy’ and then both of them would relax; but neither of them seemed any more comfortable. If anything the tension in the room went up a few notches.

I really wasn’t sure what to do anymore. “A-anyway…” I said breaking the silence uncomfortably, “why would Sans, namely, be bothered by it?”

“That’s it!” Undyne threw her hands up and turned around. “I ain’t spelling this out. If he wants me to do this part he’s going to have to bribe me.” She stormed out of the lab without another word.

I looked at Alphys, totally lost. “U-umm…I th-think y-you’d b-better a-ask him…umm…y-yourself?” She jittered in place for a second. “Igottagotothebathroom.” With that, she shot behind the inner door before I could even raise my arm.

 

Hotland was still too arid for my liking. Maybe the heat alone would have been okay, but the dim light of the magma—which kept fading then brightening again at steady intervals—gave me a headache. Alphys wasn’t answering her phone, which was kind of a pain, since she’d reactivated all the lasers and traps but had forgotten to turn them back off. I navigated the familiar ground fast though. Tsundere Plane was clearly happy to see me, since I found myself running from her attacks for much longer than usual.

I managed to make it all the way to the musical stage without incident, when I heard it.

“Darling!”

OH yes!

“Well, well, how _ex_ -cellent of you to _show up_.” The spotlights flared and Metta dropped down from the top of the set, already in EX-form.

“You’ve been hanging around that second-rate stand-up for far too long, darling.” He glanced me up and down quickly. “You look different somehow, darling. Where’s that ugly rag-bag you’re so fond of?”

Oh yeah, I’d never ditched it earlier than the resort before. “Why?” I smirked. “Are you jealous? Did you want it?”

“ _Please_ ,” he said, covering his face with his hand in disgust. “I’d rather wear a trash bag on my head than touch that thing. I just thought you might want all the help you can get before I embarrass you.”

“Alright,” I smiled and waltzed over to where I knew the  hidden trap door was. I stomped on it a few times for effect, my heel making a pleasantly loud clop. “Let’s go then. We'll see who embarrasses whom,” especially after last time I’d beat my personal best for solving that damn floor puzzle—it wouldn’t be hard, I had the order memorized.

But Metta smiled, then broke out laughing. “Not today darling!” A familiar guitar rip played. I glanced behind him—he’d updated his sound system. Again. “Now that I don’t have to play Alphys’ little game, I’m free to do what I please. And what better way to celebrate than to stop you right here and now. I’ll put on a magnificent show and then carry on your mission from here as the Hero of the Underground! My ratings will rocket, my fans will love me! That’s right!” He stuck a valiant pose, pointing straight at me. “You’ve done well so far Frisk, but it’s time you pass the torch, and the spotlight, over to the more deserving of us.”

I prepared for the fight. All the same, I was happy to get things over with faster. Metta’s theme blasted from the stereos and we were off.

The venue may have been different but Metta’s moves weren’t, though I did start to miss having some Glamburgers on hand. We danced around each other, trading blow for blow, until both of us were starting to run down. I was out of breath.

“You know, you won’t be able to beat me,” I said, panting between words. “I’ve seen this show before, and frankly I’m not into the re-run.”

“Oh you have no sense of style, darling. And besides, I’d call this more of a…re-boot!”

Several trap doors sprung up, the tops flying as if shot from cannons, bouncing back on the loaded springs. I yelped and barely dodged one before another sent me flying. I backed away, but another spring shot up behind me. I stumbled and fell to my knees.

Metta laughed manically. “That’s right honey! Looks like you didn’t notice me _spring_ my trap! If you liked that, the sequel will really be a _blast!_ ”

I clambered up fast and broke into a sprint to avoid the bombs that came down. “Who’s the one who’s too into the ‘second-rate stand-up’ now?!”

I should have stayed quiet.

I should have focussed.

While shooting off my mouth I sidestepped a bomb only to find that step meet only air. Then suddenly I was weightless.

Metta probably shouted something, but I don’t recall what. I couldn’t hear him over my thoughts.

I hear people feel sick right before falling, vile, terrified. I didn’t feel anything as the darkness swallowed me. But my mind did go blank, and the world did seem to slow down. And I did get one thought, clearer and crisper than anything I’ve had before, despite its lack of logic:

_I hope Sans…will be alright…_

 

~~~

~The three have not returned from Below.

~I can no longer contact them.

~I fear for their lives.

~I am responsible.

~Not only that, someone has come from Above.

~And she is loved.

~She carries now.

~The king and queen seem not worried.

~For they say the child will be accepted.

~Even though they are half and half.

~~~

 

The letter was written in code again.

_—I was wrong. The second figure is 2. See me soon.—_

I stared at it, like somehow that would make more words materialize, then sighed. Something in the air didn’t feel right. My thoughts went to Frisk.

 _She’s fine, chill Sans. This chick can beat that weed, Chara, and even stand up to Asgore. She knows how to take care of herself. You’re being paranoid._ I took a deep, steadying breath, and focussed instead on letter again.

“‘Ey! Sans! What brings you here?”

I crumpled the letter in an instant and shoved it into my pocket.

“gerson! how are you buddy?”

The old tortoise waddled up and past me into his usual hangout. “Gah, didn’t think I’d see you here. I tell you, this Underground gets dingier by the day. I was just at the dump trying to find something worthwhile, but I bet Alphys has already beat me to anything that’s worth anything.” He seated himself on boulder with a smooth, level surface—no doubt due to having served the same purpose many times before—and sighed heavily. “Well, watcha here for? Doubt you came to find me just to shoot the breeze.”

“kinda harsh there gerson. why do i always have to have a reason to see you?” The old tortoise shot me a dirty look. “okay, okay! there was something i wanted your opinion on.”

He grinned as I walked over, handing him the scrap with the doodle. “Bah! I’ve seen your shenanigans long enough to see through you so don’t bother trying that ‘here just to be buddies’ garbage with me. What’s this then?”

“i found it in waterfall,” I explained as he unfolded it. “i trust undyne’s filled you in on the situation?”

Gerson nodded, digging out his magnifying glass. “Actually I heard everything from Asgore, but all the same. There’s another human here, as well as a second…someone.”

“yeah. i met one of them at waterfall,” I continued as he studied the picture. “they left this behind. i get the feeling it’s a message, maybe a threat or a hint.”

Gerson’s expression turned dark as he examined the picture. He was quiet for a long while, then he stood up and walked over to a glowing crystal, holding the picture up and perusing it in the brighter light. I didn’t say anything, but I had a bad feeling. After a while, he put the magnifying glass away and came back over to me.

“I think you’re right,” he said. “I’m not sure what exactly the stranger is trying to say with this, but the symbolism isn’t good.”

“please tell me what you know.”

He held the picture so we both could look at it. “Remember that the triangles represent monsters, and the winged sphere represent something above? Let’s call it an Angel. So Asgore’s crest is the Angel above monsters. Well, this doodle is actually what the crest used to look like, well before your time.”

“what?” I looked at him, shocked.

Gerson grinned wide. “You bet! My own grandpappy showed it to me when I was just a tyke. Can’t remember why half of it got chopped off…that or even grandpappy didn’t. Either way, this old version has got both Angels.” He pointed at the outlined sphere. “That there represents the Angel of light or goodness or what have you,” he pointed at the filled in sphere, “while that’s the Angel of evil or darkness. The double crest used to represent how the good and the bad, the light and the dark, go to make up everything. They’re two halves of the same whole.”

I nodded. “makes sense, but i guess you’re right about this picture. that doesn’t seem to say much in the way of a message.”

“Except the way the picture’s drawn,” Gerson said, suddenly serious. “Normally the symbol can be either way up, but this here,” he pointed to the words written in the corner ‘tick, tock,’ “tells me that the right way up is with the Evil Angel above. That means the Pure Angel has fallen, or is subordinate to the Evil one.”

I tensed. “what can it mean, that the pure angel falls?”

Gerson shrugged. “Different things: could mean invasion, the monsters representing the army with the Evil Angel as their leader; could be a rival gaining victory; or, since it can also be a ‘shadow’ Angel, it could represent someone unseen who’s been plotting in the shadows putting their plans into action. Like a snake that’s been coiled in the grass and finally decides to strike its unsuspecting prey.”

Gerson curled his hands into claws and hissed humorously before laughing. I realized he'd meant to lighten the mood, but I felt a chill in my bones.

_Unsuspecting prey._

“thanks old friend,” I said pocketing the drawing. “i’ll make sure alphys knows about this. i think it’ll help.”

“If you really think so,” Gerson said straightening up. “I don’t see how that could be useful but hey ho. By the way, did Papyrus find you?”

I was halfway out when I stopped. “huh? when?”

“He went by a while ago. Something about chasing the devil out of Temmie village.”

I chuckled. “uhh…yeah, it’s a project he’s working on right now. let’s just say his on a noble mission to prove his worth for the guard.” I couldn’t wait to ask him how it had gone.

“He came by afterwards too. Seemed really excited about something. I think he mentioned finding an old friend again. Said he was heading somewhere for a while and not to worry…or something like that.”

“r-right,” I said. “i’ll give him a call in a bit later. thanks for passing the message, i’m sure it’s nothing to worry over though.” I waved behind me as I walked out.

The instant I was out of earshot I pulled out my phone and dialed for Pap.

It ran far too long.

“SANS! WHAT A COINCIDENCE! WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU.”

I had to fight to keep my tone calm. “where are you pap? i got gerson’s message.”

“DO NOT WORRY, I AM ONLY AT THE CASTLE WITH ASGORE AND LADY ASGORE.”

Somewhere in the background I heard, “Actually, my name is Tori—”

“WE'RE JUST HAVING A LOVELY CUP OF TEA BEFORE THE COURTIERS ARRIVE AND ASGORE WAS JUST MENTIONING HOW HE HAD BEEN MEANING TO CALL YOU FOR A WHILE.”

“i thought you were out looking for frisk. and what did gerson mean about you finding an 'old friend'?”

“OH YES!!” Pap exclaimed suddenly. “WELL, IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY. ONE THING LEAD TO ANOTHER AND HERE I AM AT THE CASTLE. DON’T WORRY THOUGH, I CALLED UNDYNE AND SHE TOLD ME TO CALL ANOTHER TIME AS SHE WAS BUSY CHASING FRISK, SO SHE IS IN SAFE HANDS. BUT GUESS WHAT, YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHO SUDDENLY APPEARED!! I WAS JUST LEAVING TEMMIE VILLAGE WHEN OUT OF THE GROUND POPPED— O-OH, HOLD ON A MOMENT.” There was muffled talking in the background. I couldn’t make out the words but I recognized Asgore’s voice. “I'M GOING TO PASS THE PHONE TO ASGORE NOW. HE SAID HE WANTED A WORD.”

“hang on a minute pap!” But he’d already handed the phone over and I could hear shuffling as the mobile was dropped and fumbled with.

“Hello?” Asgore said. “Is this Sans?”

“hey asgore,” I said, making a mental note to take this up again with Papyrus in the near future.

“I am afraid I cannot talk for long, but I was hoping that maybe we could have tea in very soon. I have been meaning to invite Alphys over for a while as well.”

Clearly he wasn’t able to say what he wanted with my brother there with him. I wondered passingly just how much Toriel knew as well.

“understood,” I said, he’d know what I meant. “i have some new information. i think alphys has made some progress with her analysis as well. i’m about to head over and see her to put everything together.”

“Splendid news. Well, please do phone me when you get a chance. I will look forward to having tea with the both of you.”

It was only after I had put the phone down that I realized… It sort of made sense why Papyrus was having tea with Asgore, but why was Toriel there?

 

As I walked into the lab Alphys had just walked out from the side door, sighing deeply. She turned to return to her desk and saw me.

“AH!” She jumped and nearly fled back through the door. “S-S-S-Sans! W-what are y-y-you doing h-here!?!”

I slowly raised the envelope. “you…sent me a message. you said to come see you about the second figure…”

“Hah! Y-yes, th-that’s right! I did…didn’t I? That was m-me! I w-w-was the o-one wh-who asked you t-to come. Right!”

At that moment Undyne burst back in shouting something and stopped dead. I raised a hand in greeting but it only seemed to piss her off worse. “No chance! Screw it! If that punk thinks she can set up some reverse matchmaking shit on me, I ain’t falling for it! You lot are on your own in this!” She turned on her heal and marched back out.

I turned to the doctor, thoroughly lost. “what’s going on?”

She wrung her hands. “Th-that? H-ha… Anyway! Yes th-the second figure. Let me just g-get the monitor up.” She ran over to the large monitor in the hallway. The screen split into four sections. One quarter flashed with the usual changing images from her many cameras, displaying some part of the Underground for about half a minute before switching to the next. The other three she froze on images of the figures. Two were the ones she’d showed us in the last meeting, but the last was of the lake.

When we’d been there.

“I-I made a s-small mistake. I thought th-these two w-were the same…” she pointed to the new image as well as the one of the dark silhouette. The one with the brown hair—the human—was skipped. “B-but I’ve been s-sending M-Mettaton out to d-do some e-energy readings a-and th-they’re actually n-not the same p-person.”

“so there are _three_ intruders here.”

Alphys fidgeted. “Y-yes.”

“and the intruder at the lake…he’s not been seen since.”

She scratched her ear. “Th-that’s right. G-good n-news is he s-seems to have…v-vanished for now.”

I bit the end of my thumb, staring hard at the blurry image. That one, he’d been different somehow. I was sure I’d seen him attack when Frisk went through the ice. So, there was a good chance he at least wasn’t human. But I didn’t know a monster in the Underground who attacked the way he did. No one…except me.

“by the way,” I muttered to the side, not taking my eyes off the monitor, “i saw gerson. i had an encounter with the human earlier, i he left something behind. i thought you’d want to see—” I paused and turned to look properly at her.

Alphys stopped like stone. She’d been shifting steadily around me so as to stand by the right corner of the monitor. There wouldn’t have been anything odd about it, except it left her wedged awkwardly between the trash can, the computer and a newly formed pile of bowls that was an extension of the collection on her desk. And she looked like a convict under interrogation.

“Y-y-you…w-w-were s-s-saying…S-Sans?”

I narrowed my eyes. “are you…hiding something from me?”

She jumped so badly she knocked the bowl-stack over. “M-m-m-me?! Bhaa..hah…whyonearthwouldIhavesomethingtohide!?” She leaned back stiffly, like a mother dog over her puppies, and ignored the ruined crockery sprawling beside her.

Then I finally twigged the one topic she always brought up around this time in every run…the one she seemed to be studiously avoiding now.

“alphys, is this about fris—”

“ _No._ ”

I could almost see her berating herself internally for the slip.

I was suddenly very uncomfortable.

“alphys…”

She closed her eyes, looking pained. “S-Sans… J-just remember how independent she is. You know she can h-handle herself a-and we shouldn’t worry about her—”

She didn’t put up a fight as I pulled her away gently by her shoulder, and saw a familiar messenger back tucked away in the corner.

Cold flushed through me.

“you’re telling me we have three unknowns running around the underground and frisk is out there _unarmed_?”

“W-well, n-no! Y-you see—”

The back door of the lab burst open suddenly. Mettaton rushed through, uncharacteristically frazzled.

“Alphys!! Darling!! Come here right now, honey, we have a situation with Frisk—” He stopped dead when he saw me. “Umm…heh…oops?”

“M-M-Mettaton!” Alphys broke in, jittering. “Y-You were s-supposed t-to be keeping an eye on her!”

“I…may perhaps have made a teensy mistake…”

I let go of Alphys and stepped toward Mettaton. “what’s happened?”

Metta opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it again. After settling on his words, he said, “Frisk…fell.”

“what?”

“And now she’s…gone.”

“ _what!?”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*) For anyone who might not know, ‘seppuku,’ as far as I understand, is the Japanese ceremonial suicide performed by samurai after they are defeated or otherwise feel they have brought disgrace upon themselves or their family/allies in battle. If done properly, the samurai kneels on the ground and stabs himself in the stomach with a short blade like a tanto while another ‘assistant’ beheads him with a larger implement like a katana at the same moment.  
> I’d say that this was an old and no-longer used tradition, but I’m sure there are some idiots in the world somewhere who still do this.


	6. A Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! This time pretty soon as I did my back in again (skillz, i kno) so I’ve got time off and not much to do T__T But also I’ve been super motivated by the way the story is heading (and all the kind comments and kudos you guys been leaving (THANKU!!)) so this chapter kind of just poured out of me.  
> There's a few notes I'm making this time, but feel free to skip them if you just want to read—you won't miss anything crucial ;)
> 
> First thing: because of my back I'm uploading this from my iPhone. I've done my usual proofread but it's really hard to check formatting like this so apologies if something is off/wonky/looks weird. Will correct ASAP when I get to my laptop XP  
>  _ **EDIT #1**_ So yeah, far as I can see AOx3 deleted all my italics and paragraph gaps, so...yah :( I'm gonna fix it soon as can but if there's anyone who can't wait, the text is intact :3  
>  _ **EDIT #2**_ Okay, all the formatting should be sorted out now!  >_<  
>   
> Okay, so quick note on this chapter: you’ll notice that MTT Resort is really crowded compared with the game. My reason (and reasoning) is this: I believe that in the game the number of NPCs present are just a small representation of the actual number of inhabitants of the Underground. In a game it doesn’t make sense for there to be super many, because that’d just get in the player’s way and also be a lot of wasted time and effort for Toby to program them in. But I believe that in the real Underground, the number of monsters you’d see around would be equivalent to maybe a small human town. So I’m working off the assumption that the total number of monsters in the Underground is really closer to 30,000-40,000, which is a small town in our world, with a bigger attendance at popular ‘public’ sites like the MTT Resort.  
> I hope that clarifies things a little, since I will be talking like characters are having to push/navigate their way through crowds which…in the game obviously isn’t a thing.  
> About the Resort itself too: I know obviously in the game there is just that small ground floor area with the reception, restaurant to the left and rooms to the right…but I imagine that again in the “real” thing there’s rooms and floors above that, which weren’t programmed because they serve no purpose to the game itself.
> 
> Also, I know I promised I wouldn’t include anymore content warnings, but I’m struggling to fight off the urge to, so this sentence is the compromise: the tags are your friends—they love you, so love them back ;)
> 
> Okay, one last thing—don’t ask me how or why Underground doctors have blood supply packs. I’m assuming that monsters would bleed unless/until killed and they turn to dust.
> 
> Aaand FINALLY! Please do comment on what you think or leave a kudos if you enjoyed reading.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I don't own any of the characters, locations or concepts of UnderTale, their rights belong to Toby Fox. This is purely a fan fiction / parody not-for-profit work not intended to infringe the rights of the creator(s).  
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>   ** _~A Friend~_**

I hummed, twirling a long shard of glass in my fingers, lying back on a bluff of volcanic rock which overlooked the MTT Resort and its surroundings. The view was great. The monsters skittered around like ants at my feet, and yet it occurred to nobody to glance up to my ‘hiding’ spot. I was invisible, like a god watching his creations right before crushing them under his boot.

Just when I was starting to enjoy myself, Asriel popped up next to me.

_‘This better be good.’_

“Y-yes, master Chara. I’m reporting in about the plan…”

I sat up, tugging at the edge of my hood, and continued to play with the shard. _‘Let’s hear it then.’_

“Mettaton engaged Frisk earlier like you guessed he would. Putting the idea into his head wasn’t difficult. The battle got out of hand, and Frisk fell.” He withered a little.

I smiled. _‘Did she now? And how is our lovely heroine?’_

“She’s hurt,” Flowey replied. “Chara, is this really necessary? I thought you told me to look out for Frisk, not set her up for injury. I don’t like this…”

I lay down on my side, chin under my hand, and put down the shard. _‘Let me explain something to you. There are book-lovers in the world who enjoy nothing more than a spine which is thoroughly creased.’_ I plucked a small leaf growing on his stem. He gave a pathetic yelp. _‘There are those who collect movies, yet discard all but the discs.’_ Next I tugged out a petal, which made him squeal. _‘Sometime a little damage makes the commodity that much more valuable.’_

I closed my eyes and pictured it, pictured here falling and crashing—her realizing the trap I’d set. The shock on her face, the pain in her skin. I relished in the image, and suddenly the thought of going to see her myself was all the more appealing.

 _‘Tell me something,’_ I said before I could catch myself, _‘was she bleeding?’_

Flowey ignored me. “I also sent word to dad about…Sans. I used a messenger. The Rumormonger.”

 _‘Excellent. Everything is falling into place.’_ I couldn’t have designed things better if really _was_ god…not that the title would elude me for much longer…

I was right about to return to my pleasant lounging when Asriel had to ruin it.

“There just a little problem with the non-human intruder.”

I glared. _‘What was that?’_

“The two strangers that are after Frisk, the one with the monster’s aura is gone. He’s fled Below. I can’t track him anymore.”

 _‘Damn…’_ I chewed the end of my thumb nail, thinking. _‘I don’t like an enemy I can’t see.’_ I glanced at him. _‘What about that failure of a scientist and her lackeys?’_

“Alphys is also trying to trace him, but she’s in the same situation. I listened to her explaining it to Undyne—she’s sending scout droids down there but so far nothing.”

I mused, observing again the flow of the throng below. There was nothing to be done about it. I didn’t like leaving an adversary hidden in the shadows, but I needed to focus my attention elsewhere.

 _‘Keep on eye on his aura. If he resurfaces, tell me right away. Otherwise we’ll have to ignore him. Once my work here is done, I’ll go after him and his ilk myself.’_ I stood, brushing dust off my mantle.

Flowey looked miserable as always. “Your orders…master Chara.”

_‘Create chaos as usual. And don’t forget, just because one of our enemies has fled doesn’t mean the other one has disappeared. Everyone seems to have turned their attentions away from him, but I, for one, am curious what this other human is doing here. He seems to have arrived by more than just accident. What do you know about him?’_

“He’s here after Frisk, but I don’t know what he intends to do with her. He’s surprisingly hard to track, and he seems kind of…incoherent. He’s not like any of the others who’ve fallen down here before.”

I nodded. _‘Keep an eye on him. I don’t want him to sneak up on us and get out of hand. This is_ my _world.’_ I began to walk away.

“What about yourself? Where are you going?”

I turned, pulling down my hood. _‘To put my plan into motion, of course!’_

\---

 

I fell into darkness. It felt eternal, and at the same time, ended too soon. I didn’t see it coming.

I smashed shoulder first into the floor. I heard a sickening crunch at the same time I heard glass tiles shatter. For a full minute I just lay there, catching up with the fact that I wasn’t dead. Then, slowly, I raised my eyes to see where I was.

I’d fallen from the stage down to the basement color-tile puzzle. But it wasn’t inviting like normally. The floor was dark, some of the tiles smashed and broken, the whole area littered with small stones and dirt. It looked abandoned. I tried to push myself up, but pain shot through me. My neck was stiff, and my head was bleeding. Mom said that even small cuts on the head could bleed a lot and look much more serious than they were—I prayed that this was just the case now. I forced myself up to my knees. Every movement made me feel like I was being stabbed by a thousand razors. And then I realized…

The floor wasn’t covered with stones…it was covered in broken glass.

The glittering fragments, huge and small, were all around me. There wasn’t an inch of the floor that wasn’t covered. My vision blurred, my breathing pitched. I held my arms in front of me and turned them over. My forearms were lanced by countless shards, my thin black sleeves clearly damp. I moved to stand and could feel them embedded, biting at the flesh in my shins.

I covered my mouth with my hands, trying to force my breathing to calm.

 _I have to get out. I have to get out of here_ now!

I pushed myself forward, feet moving as if through glue, when someone approached. Step…step…step. Glass grinding under a steady gait. I pulled my gaze from the floor and tried to bring the silhouette before me into focus.

“Who’s there?” I took a few unsteady steps backward, feeling for the tanto. “Who are you?”

_Is this him? Is this the stranger Sans and the others are tracking?!_

He strode forward faster. My heel caught on a loose metal frame of the floor and I fell, the back of my head smashing into the glass. I pushed up and tried to crawl away, but the stranger was on me in a heartbeat. I drew the tanto blade, but he kicked it out of my hand. The blade flickered like a dying star as it landed somewhere near the stairs, far out of my reach.

He kelt beside me in the broken glass without a flinch. I looked at those jeans that were thick like a builder’s, worn out from the years. With a jolt I realized they were familiar. He rested his arm across his knee, and I could see his rough hand, the calloused fingers, the chewed fingernails.

My breath, fast and furious before, had withered away. I found myself meeting his eyes, silently holding my breath.

“Found ya.”

He pulled off the hood of that black trench coat he’d kept for years, letting a messy tangle of chestnut hair fall over his baggy eyes, stubbly chin and yellowed smile.

“John…” The word escaped, hardly audible, on a breathless whisper.

He smacked his lips in a short _tsk, tsk._ “Now, didn’ I say never to call me that?”

He reached out and stroked my cheek, then my neck. His skin was sandpaper. I wanted to get away, but my body was frozen, unwilling to even flinch.

 _Move, Frisk. Get up_ now _. Run. Get away!_

“Hey now Frisky.”

His hand worked its way to my throat, down past my collar bone and to my breast. My shaking hand felt along the floor, reflexively closing on the first, fist-sized shard it found.

“Ya done a bad thing, runnin’ away like that. But now ya comin’ home with me, Frisky…” He chuckled airily as his thumb caressed my nipple. “Ya momma’s worried about ya. Ya don’t wanna worry her, do ya, Frriskyy?”

I swung out wildly. The shard cut a gash through his hand, and John shouted, pulling away.

“Damn bitch!”

I was on my feet in a heartbeat and running for the exit. I felt no more pain, just urgency. I reached the stairs…and stopped. They’d been destroyed. There was no more left than a steep, ragged incline twisted with mangled roots. I jumped on without thinking.

“Ya think you’re gettin’ away from me?!”

Behind, John’s thundering steps approached at a rapid pace. I tried to climb faster, but the rock was slick and brittle. Handholds and footholds fell away without warning. I heard John grunting as he grabbed hold of the wall below.

I wasn’t going to make it. I wasn’t going to—

Red arrows flew from above.

They curved around in an arc and struck the wall near John. The rock gave way, and he shouted profanities as he struggled. I didn’t dare look down. Then finally there was a shout and a thud as he landed back on the ground. I kept scrabbling upward, thankful to whoever for buying me time. I wasn’t far from the top now.

But the arrows didn’t stop. They rained down on John. I peeked over my shoulder. He was shouting, trying to shield himself from the attack. Without realizing he backed to the edge of the platform. That’s when the random rain stopped and turned into a coordinated volley, each wave hitting a little closer to him, driving him backwards. John’s next step was into air. He vainly grabbed toward me before falling into darkness, his final scream fading further away.

The attack stopped.

When it was quiet again, I breathed a ragged sigh and felt relief flush over me. I was okay.

Suddenly I became aware of how badly my hands were shaking, how painful my arms were, how weak my hold was. The edge was just a reach away. I quickly raised my free hand to grab for it, when the rock wall crumbled. I was falling…I had failed…

Someone grabbed my hand at the last moment.

“Hold on!”

I looked up, but in my bleary vision I could only see a hazy silhouette against the light from the upper level. I grabbed hold of his wrist with all the strength I could muster, trying to help by pushing off footholds in the frail rock. My savior pulled me to safety, and I collapsed onto the solid surface, catching my breath.

“Are you alright?” He leaned over me, worried.

“I never thought…” I replied between breaths, “that I’d ever…love this rock…so much.” I patted the earth a couple times weakly.

“At least you’re conscious,” he said. “That’s good.”

I turned my head and finally saw who’d saved me. It was a boy, about my age. His long black hair was tied back in a messy knot, his ears were long and pointed, and his eyes narrow and beautiful. There were strange, almost tribal tattoos on his face, and his dark eyes peered at me from under long eyelashes. I didn’t know if it was the impending unconsciousness talking, but he was actually pretty attractive.

“Who…are you…?” I managed to say, but before I could continue, black shapes started swirling in my vision.

I must have gone pale, since he seemed to get worried, and only said, “A friend.” I could feel myself being hoisted to my feet, my arm pulled over his shoulders. “C’mon, we need to get you to a doctor, pronto. You don’t look so good.”

But the change in gravity was too much. The black shapes advanced on me, swallowing my whole vision, and my body shut down. Right before it all faded, I could feel myself slumping forward, and the boy’s voice calling like from the far end of a tunnel.

“Frisk!”

 

~~~

~The child is human on the outside.

~Monster on the inside.

~One day his power may be great.

~The king and queen could not rejoice,

~For a threat followed the mother from Above.

~She has fled through the Barrier.

~Her pursuer fell Below.

~I can hear the cries of the baby in the cavern,

~just beyond the barrier.

~The humans will come for him soon.

~~~

 

“how could you be so careless?!”

“Look, honey, I’m sorry! I got overexcited. I’m sure she’s fine. She’s a tough cookie.”

We ran toward the resort: myself, Mettaton, Alphys and Undyne (who she had called, and who’d rushed back in a heartbeat). Undyne had called Pap and made sure he was staying with Asgore at the Castle. There was no way I wanted my brother worrying over this as unless absolutely necessary.

The crowds were growing as we got close, and soon Undyne was elbowing the way through for us. I knew I should stop berating Metta, it didn’t help and I’d been doing it the whole way from the Lab, but by now it was more as an excuse to speak and drown out the worries in my own head.

“Guys, there’s too many monsters here,” Undyne said as we stopped at the plaza outside the resort. “This’ll take forever. The punk could be anywhere. We need to split up.”

We were all agreed. “you and alphys check over there. metta, check the resort and the entrance to the core just in case. try and see if anyone’s seen her. i’ll check the basement level.”

“Leave it to me, darling!”

I turned and headed for the stairwell to the floor puzzle, nearly running.

 _Chill the fuck out,_ I tried telling myself. _I need to calm down. This doesn’t need to mean anything bad. I’ll probably find her a little bruised, annoyed at Metta, and we’ll have a laugh—_

Someone stepped up from the basement stairwell, scanning the crowd nervously…holding Frisk. She wasn’t alright.

I forced my way through the crowd.

“ _what did you do to her!?_ ”

The black-haired stranger stepped back defensively. “Chill, man, I didn’t do anything! I was just hanging in my usual spot in the cliffside and I heard voices from the abandoned floor. I went to check it out and I found her clinging to the rock wall.”

Just then Frisk groaned weakly as she barely regained consciousness. “…Sans…?” The stranger lowered her to the ground as I rushed over. Up close I noticed it was much worse. Her arms and legs were bloodied, studded with broken glass all over, and she was white as a sheet.

“frisk, i’m here. who did this to you?!”

“……S…an…s…”

Her eyes flickered. She tried to raise her hand and reach for me, but her strength failed and she passed out again.

“She’s lost a lot of blood,” the stranger said, shaking his head. “I need to get her to the medical center fas—”

I pulled her from his arms and gathered her up.

“Hey man, what are you doing?”

“you don’t need to do anything,” I said, turning to leave. “look, i’m grateful that you helped her, but i’ll take it from here. you don’t even know her.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t care!” he shot back, but I was already walking through the crowd toward the resort.

I navigated the dense crowd, heading for the front doors. I could feel her shallow breathing. Every so often, she murmured weakly, like trying to break through the unconsciousness.

“rest easy frisk. it’s okay. it’s gonna be okay now, don’t worry.”

Inside the lobby I didn’t pause but made straight for the stairwell leading to the upper floors. Two floors up, I made down the long corridor, flanked on either side by private rooms, toward the small communal area at the other end, which also acted as a waiting room for the small doctor’s surgery. Heads turned and conversations hushed as I walked past. I ignored them and marched into the office.

“dr. leonard? are you here?”

The monster sitting at the reception table, with a horse’s head and talons for hands, jumped to her feet. “Goodness! You can’t just come in shouting like—” but she gasped as she took in the girl in my arms. “Oh dear. I-I see. Just wait there, I’ll get the doctor!” She ran into the examination room, and I could hear her speaking as if on fast forward.

The practice was small, meant mainly for dealing with the health complaints of guests. It was made up of the minute reception area just beyond the communal space, with a separate examination and treatment room through the left door, and another small recuperation room through the right.

In moments Dr. Leonard stepped in, his lion’s mane brushing against the doorframe, and took in the situation at a glance.

“Hello Sans. Please bring her through quickly.”

I lay Frisk down on the treatment bed as the nurse hovered about, preparing items, and the doctor examined her.

“Do you know what happened?”

“no, i found her like this. she fell to the basement level. it’s all i know.”

As he looked over her arms, Frisk stirred again, and turned blearily to me. “Where…m…I…?”

“safe. you’re safe now.”

Leonard shook his head, holding her arm carefully in his paws. “This doesn’t look good. Bronwen,” he turned to the nurse, “we’ll need to cut the sleeves from the elbow and the jeans from the knee to get at these shards. Set up a drip and a blood supply, stat.”

“Yes sir,” she whinnied and hurried away. I had to give her kudos for how swiftly and accurately she worked; she knew the practice like the back of her claws.

Frisk was squirming, writhing as if she was trying to get up. “m…ba—”

Leonard held her down by the shoulders. “Sweetheart, you’re in shock and you’ve injured yourself pretty bad. You need to keep still. I don’t want you to get hurt more than you are.”

But Frisk shook her head and kept struggling. “No…up…ba—…hurts…”

That’s when I noticed the sheets under her shoulders turning red.

“leonard, there’s glass in her back as well!”

With one sweeping move he pulled her up to sit as she coughed. He glanced over her shoulder at the damage. “This isn’t good. We’ll need to work fast. Bronwen!”

She whirled around without losing pace or momentum. “Yes sir,” she whinnied and took me by the elbow. “I’m sorry Sans, but you’ll need to wait outside,” she explained smoothly all the while guiding me out. “Don’t you worry one bit. We both know how excellent Dr. Leonard is. Your friend will be just fine.”

“wait a—!”

Before I could protest I was outside of reception as Bronwen closed the door and returned to the treatment room. I took a steadying breath and looked at the floor. The nurse was right, best to stay out of their way.

“They’re looking after her then?”

I turned to find the black-haired stranger standing behind me. I only realized then that the bastard had followed me the whole way. He’d probably waited here the entire damn time.

“yeah, she’s fine now so you don’t have to hang around anymore.”

“Hey, what’s with the cold shoulder? Look, I don’t know what I did to piss you off, but I didn’t hurt her, okay? She was in trouble and I helped her. Last time I checked that’s usually classified as a positive thing!”

I didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem to be ready to back down either. Something about him didn’t feel right.

“what’s your name anyway? i haven’t seen you around here before, and i’ll have you know i like to think i know the underground pretty well.”

He sighed, apparently exasperated. “I’m Arach. Arach Nido. Muffet’s my aunt. And you probably wouldn’t have seen me around much. I like my privacy and I’m not much for socializing. I’m not cold-hearted either though. And I, for one, like to think of myself as someone who doesn’t sit around and watch others die if he can help it.”

“i see.”

Suddenly there was a clamor from the hallway as Undyne and the others came running.

“Sans! You punk! Where is she?!” The warrior and Alphys slumped over, catching their breath, as they came to a halt before us.

“Oh honey, we heard from the guests downstairs that you’d come running this way with Frisk in tow. They said she looked the worse for wear, so I rounded these stooges up and we came running.” At this remark, Undyne sent him a withering glare, but Metta either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “How is she, darling?”

Undyne hissed. “Since when did you give a damn?”

Metta flicked his hair indignantly. “Look, I wanted the spotlight and Frisk out of the way, maybe tied up in a dungeon somewhere. But I didn’t want her _dead!_ I’m not a demon, you know.”

I filled them in as best I could on what had happened in the short span of time. When they heard that the doctor was working on her wounds right then, they all seemed to relax a little. I wish I could have as well.

“Well, all we can do now is wait,” Metta sighed. “At least she’s being looked after now.”

“B-but…w-who could have d-done this?” Alphys said. “Sh-shouldn’t we l-look into th-that?”

Undyne shrugged. “Ya heard what Sans said. It’s not like there’s anyone who knows what happened. Frisk is the only one who can fill us in. We can’t do none but wait till she wakes up and tells us herself.”

The whole time, Arach had stood in the corner by the door, quietly watching and didn’t seem too eager to jump in. I was hoping he’d make himself scarce, but he didn’t appear to be planning to do that either. Unfortunately, Metta eventually spotted him.

“Ooh, well, hello! Who’s your new friend, Sans?~<3”

“he’s not—”

“Hi there,” he answered, pushing off the wall and offering up his hand, which Metta seized a bit too energetically. “I’m Arach. I’m a friend of Frisk’s, actually.”

“what?!”

“Huh?”

“Wh-wh-what?”

Mettaton quirked an eyebrow. “Well, I must say that’s surprising. I’m afraid she’s never mentioned you, honey. I think I’d remember.”

He smiled naturally, radiant as the early morning sun. “We haven’t known each other for long. When I saw her fall earlier, I rushed to help. She’s a spirited one, that girl. Gotta say, she’ll make a hell of a wife one day.”

The air went still and Mettaton suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I-I see. Umm…well, I s-suppose that’s…uhh…not entirely false…”

Arach laughed lightly. “Well, sure it’s true. What man wouldn’t kill to have a gal like that on his arm.”

Undyne and Alphys were slowly withdrawing toward the other end of the room.

“I donno about others, but I fancy a woman who’s independent and smart like that.”

Mettaton appeared to be getting more and more eager to extricate his hand from the shake that didn't seem to be ending. He glanced over his shoulder at the girls, who traded nervous looks, but didn’t seem willing to come to his aid.

“And just between me and you,” Arach bellowed merrily at a volume that would be heard down at reception, “helps that she’s got a gorgeous ass—”

I grabbed him by the collar and wrenched him off Metta and down the hall.

“you and me need to have a little talk.”

 

I didn’t let go until we reached the stairwell landing, where I threw him against the wall.

“what kind of game d’you think your playing?”

Arach straightened up, brushing off his jacket. “So according to you, it’s not only a crime to help someone, but to like someone as well?”

My eye started to twitch. This guy was starting to really get under my ‘skin.’ “i ain’t saying that. but you’re making it sound like you two’re bffs when you’ve only known her for a few minutes. i’m saying i don’t like how you’re sidling up to her even though you’re strangers. i’m not about to let you use or hurt her.”

He smirked and cocked his head. “So, she’s spoken for then?”

It took me by surprise. “excuse me?”

“Since you’re so possessive of her,” he clarified slowly, like talking to a child, “she’s your lover then?”

“n-no! i mean…she’s my friend.”

He shrugged and sighed. “I see. I’m surprised. The way you were acting I’d have thought she was something more to you.” He pushed past me, knocking my shoulder with his own on the way, and walked to the stairs. “So you won’t mind if I make her my own, in other words. Glad to know where you stand.” He paused at the top step and glanced over his shoulder. “I guess I don’t have to worry about her having any feelings for you either, then. Well, not that you care, since you’re _just friends._ ”

He laughed as he walked away.

I was left standing there, speechless. When he was gone, I ground my teeth, my hands clenching into a fist, and punched the wall.

“damn you.”

 

Night fell. After some hours with Frisk, Dr. Leonard finally emerged and told us she would be alright. Alphys had fallen asleep on the communal area sofa and Undyne said she was going to carry her home. At first Metta wanted to stay, still feeling guilty, but Undyne asked him to come along in case there was movement from the intruders.

“go on buddy,” I told him. “it’s alright, you don’t need to stay here. what’s done is done, and frisk is alright now, so don’t feel bad anymore. i’ll stay here just in case anything goes down. but i’d appreciate it if someone made sure pap was okay.”

“Sure thing, darling,” he said, clearly exhausted himself. With a final goodnight, they took off. I took the chance to ring Pap—there was no way around this without letting him know. If he came back, waited for me to come read him his story, only to realize I wasn’t coming home, he’d freak. 

Not that the phone call was really that easy. It took all of twenty minutes to convince him not to rush over at once. By the time I pull my cell away, I felt worn out, my nerves frayed.

“You know, Sans,” Dr. Leonard said, stepping out of the practice, “a little rest wouldn’t do you any harm either. You look like you could use some sleep.”

I grinned. “why couldn’t the bicycle get into bed?”

“Sans…please…no.”

“because it was _two tired!_ ”

His expression was flat. “If your humor is anything to judge by, you should be comatose by now.”

I smiled and shook my head. “even if i tried, i doubt i’d be able to sleep.”

He sighed sadly. “Well, I wouldn’t hold it against you if you at least gave it a try.” He turned to go back to the surgery. “Did you want me to give you something for it?”

I shook my head wearily. “i’ve already tried everything. i’m grateful but i don’t think it’d help.”

He watched me for a moment then nodded. “I’m going to pack up for the night. Frisk is stable but she needs to rest now and let her injuries heal.”

“can i…see her?”

He paused, but then nodded. “Very well.”

 

The room was pretty small, not much bigger than the treatment room. There was only enough space for three beds. Frisk was in the one furthest from the door, by the only window. She was asleep. Her arms, torso and head were bandaged, but she was breathing easy and seemed peaceful. A blood supply pack was strapped to her arm, the pouch hanging on the stand above her bed. At least there was some color on her face again. I touched her arm lightly.

“You don’t need to worry,” the nurse said quietly behind me. “It looks much worse than it is. Most of the cuts were superficial. With a bit of rest and blood she should be back to normal in no time. She’s lucky she had a friend like you to bring her here when you did.”

I nodded but said nothing. _She should never have gotten into this state. She wouldn’t have…if I had kept a better eye on her._

“is there anything i can do?”

“I’m afraid she just needs sleep,” she said, but then thought for a moment. “Although, I’m sure she’d appreciate it if you brought her a change of clothes from home. We ended up having to remove her shirt and jeans altogether as there was more glass than we first noticed. I doubt she’ll want to wear the hospital gown when she leaves.”

I smiled at her. “thank you, bronwen, for everything.”

She giggled and scratched her muzzle. “Oh, please, call me Brony*. Everyone but the doctor does.” She told me that another nurse would be coming to take over the shift during the night, so that Frisk wouldn’t be left alone, and then returned to the reception and began filing papers.

 

The hotel was quiet at that hour, everyone sound asleep. The few night-owls—either lovers of the silent hour or fellow insomniacs—mostly gathered in the ground-floor restaurant. I could hear muted, gentle music playing—probably some small-time jazz singer on stage. I wandered about, for once taking in the upper floors. There was a surprising amount of rooms, as well as conveniences, gathering areas and stores. There was even a clothing and gift shop on the floor above.

The store clerk was absorbed in a book when I entered, and didn’t lift his gaze as I walked by. The trinkets weren’t that exciting. Mostly they were curios carved from stone or wood, painted vivid colors, ranging from 100-350G. But at the back of the store was a selection of clothing. They were all kinds of shapes and sizes, separated by the body-types they were intended for, then again by gender.

I flicked through the biped section idly. Nothing looked particularly interesting.

I called over to the counter, “is this everything you’ve got?”

The guy peeked over the top of his novel with the enthusiasm of a tax collector. “That’s the standard selection.”

“well, what’s the non-standard selection?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “We got some exclusive handcrafted items, but they’re above your budget bub.”

I leaned against the wall, digging my hands into my pockets. “try me.”

With a barely withheld sigh and eye-roll, he put his book down and lead me to a small side room. He flicked on the lights, and rows of beautiful clothes were illuminated. Satin coats, cashmere suits, silk dresses. My hands fell on a particularly delicate lace petticoat and underwear combination, the kind that hugged the figure. An image of Frisk flashed in my mind, and what she would look like in them. Suddenly the room felt uncomfortably hot.

The clerk lounged against the doorframe, seemingly counting the patterns on the wall. I made my choice and let him return to the counter, much more briskly than he’d left it.

He sighed several times as he rung me up. “That’ll be 24,997 G.”

I pulled out my wallet and dropped a couple notes in front of him. He didn’t even glance down, already picking up his reading. “I’m not authorized to give discounts.”

“welp, that’s fine. when you get a chance i’d take a moment to give a damn, though.” I pulled a paper bag off the edge of the counter and dropped the clothes inside, walking to the door. “oh and you can keep the change buddy.”

“Huh? W-Wait a second! You can’t just take—” Then he finally took a look at the two 20,000G bills on the counter.

 

When I got back to the stairs, I paused. Instead of heading straight back upstairs, I decided to turn and head for the restaurant. A drink would hit the spot right now.

It was a smoky atmosphere, a few of the older patrons working their way through umpteenth cigars in their respective corners. The artist, an older female who looked like a cousin of Shyren’s, was pulling a melancholy solo number.

The receptionist waved as I walked in. “Evening, Sansy.”

I went to my usual table slid into the chair.

“Nice night.” I looked up to find the waiter waiting pad in hand. He was Grillby’s nephew; although, they could have been father and son for all the similarities in appearance and manner alike.

“sup pyro. busy night?”

He shrugged. “Same as always. What’ll it be, friend? The usual? I’ve got a bottle of Heinz out back. ”

I shook my head. “no. i think i’ll take a stiff one tonight.”

Pyro hummed thoughtfully as he tucked his pad away. “Rough day then.”

“yeah,” i muttered as he left, “something like that.”

 

I sat watching the singer through the smoke, sipping at the bronze liquid—a vice reserved only for the lowest nights.

_‘I guess I don’t have to worry about her having any feelings for you either, then.’_

Why did that keep ringing in my head?

_‘So you won’t mind if I make her my own, in other words.’_

Why did that make my chest feel tight?

 _‘Not that you care, since you’re_ just friends _.’_

I slumped on the table and buried my face in my arms. Why did the world feel like it was ending?

Why did I feel so…alone?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*) I saw a chance for a pun and I took it. So sue me! XD


	7. Implications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a while, hasn’t it? ^_^;;; Sorry to make everyone wait, I’ve had a lot going on in RL and it’s been a bit tough for me lately. But I am still definitely going on with this fic and definitely finishing it!
> 
> Aaand, this is a SUPER long chapter. Just gonna apologize for that now as well, but on the bright side if the next chapter takes a while there’s a bit more meat to chew through until next time ^_^;;;;
> 
> Also, now with more puns! I actually bought a joke book to help since I don’t know that many puns off by heart (I’m so much better with situational humor).
> 
> Aaand FINALLY! Please do comment on what you think or leave a kudos if you enjoyed reading.
> 
> DISCLAIMER:  
> I don't own any of the characters, locations or concepts of UnderTale, their rights belong to Toby Fox. This is purely a fan fiction / parody not-for-profit work not intended to infringe the rights of the creator(s).  
> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

> **_~Implications~_ **

Asgore was sitting in his flower-filled throne room enjoying the sunlight filtering from Above. Everything was going splendidly. Sans and Alphys were making headway on the intruder situation; Toriel and he had had a very enjoyable chat earlier. Now she and Papyrus were engaged in an animated conversation by the window. The Courtiers began filing in, flowing around them in clusters of their own. Asgore sighed deeply and enjoyed the bouquet of his favorite tea.

Through the colorful robes of the Court, a shadow was weaving his way closer to the king. He had a wiry tail and a long face perched a top a long and furry neck. A few paces from his target he straightened and gussied himself up for an audience with the monarch.

“Ah! Weasel!” Asgore trilled pleasantly. “How are you this fine day?”

Weasel bowed. “Amicable, Your Highness, rather amicable.” From the other side of the chamber, Toriel was staring. “And might I be so bold as to say that thanks to your wisdom the people are truly beginning to brighten of late.”

Asgore chuckled. “Why, thank you. Yes, I am happy with the way things are going. The kingdom is calm and all is in order.” He took a long sip, savoring the flavor.

“Yes, just so,” Weasel tittered. “Maybe soon the new rumor with silence as well. After all something so unheard of couldn’t possibly hold any truth.”

Asgore coughed, then carefully put down his cup into the saucer. “Excuse me?”

Weasel placed his hands on both cheeks. “Oh, Your Majesty, do forgive me. I thought you knew! Oh I shouldn’t have spoken without thinking like that.” He slapped himself on the wrist feebly. “I’m _so_ ashamed!”

Asgore cleared his throat. “Yes, well, this sounds like something that, as the ruler of the kingdom, I should be aware of. What are these new rumors that you have heard?”

“Well!” Weasel said and leaned toward the king. “Now you know, Your Highness, I really don’t like to spread these kinds of things around. Nasty stuff, really, not my style. But I just so happened to be helping my good ol’ cuz out in the Burger Emporium—being a good citizen, as we all should—when I juuuust couldn’t help overhearing some talk about…” he cupped a hand beside his mouth and spoke in stage-whisper, “that some monster has fallen in love with a _human._ ”

Asgore stiffened. “Do you realize what you are suggesting?”

Weasel raised his hands, speaking fast. “Oh absolutely! It’s vile, preposterous, _taboo!_ This is exactly why I was loathe to repeat such a thing in front of someone as esteemed as yourself. Just as I was saying, I’m certain this has _no_ grounds in reality at all! Completely made up—someone just making waves. However…can you imagine if it were _true_?”

“Lower your voice at once!” the king hissed, looking around. “I do not want the Courtiers to hear.”

Weasel tapped his pursed lips theatrically. “Yes of course! My lips are sealed. Buuut…the point remains.”

Asgore stroked his beard, humming gravely. “Indeed. It would be unspeakable.”

“Scandalous! Catastrophic! For the sake of our society it couldn’t be allowed to exist!”

“You said you heard a name, Weasel?”

He rung his hands. “Oooh, perhaps a name was flitting about, but I must say it did not carry to my ears. I cannot say I didn’t imagine it. I wouldn’t want to speak now, without being certain, and bring false accusations on someone innocent.”

Asgore nodded, deep in thought.

“But I will keep my eyes and ears peeled, Your Majesty,” Weasel soothed. “If I hear a name, rest assured that you will be the first, and only, one to know.”

“Thank you, Weasel. As ever, I am grateful for your services.”

At that, Toriel seemed to have had enough and waved for Asgore to join her and Papyrus. He smiled giddily and waved back, waltzing toward her.

“I am ever but your humble servant…Your Highness…”

\---

 

He pulled me up. I’d already fallen, I was done for—that’s when he’d saved me. The beautiful stranger. He must also have been the who’s attack stopped John from catching me. I tried to sort through my memory, but it came in fits and starts. Bleary images and distorted sounds. Among them I saw Sans, worried. I smelled iron which trickled to my tongue and rusted there. I heard the doctor and the nurse—felt endless sharp thorns being pulled from every inch of my skin. I saw his face, somewhat elven in appearance. I didn’t even know his name.

But…he’d known mine.

And somewhere at the end, a weird image formed from the tangle of colors and silhouettes. Two sides, standing opposite each other: one dark, one light. Enemies. I couldn’t make out their forms, but the dark ones were intent on destruction, the light ones intent on protection. I reached out, wanting to stand with the light ones, to aid them. Then I realized, I already _was_ standing with them: in front of them, as their leader. These winged angels of purity.

And heading the dark ones…was my other half.

_‘I told you I’d see you again…sister dearest.’_

 

I shrieked as I shot up, and winced. I was bandaged extensively. With a sigh I scratched at them uselessly as little pinpricks woke up in my arms.

How on earth had John found me here?

“glad to see you’re awake.”

Sans sat on a chair at the foot of my bed. He was smiling, though a little less than usual.

“Hey,” I managed, surprising myself with how croaky my voice was. “Where am I? I’ve never seen this place before…”

“dr. leonard’s surgery, third floor of the mtt resort,” he said. “leonard is a friend of mine.”

“Oh.”

A stilted silence settled. I twiddled with my sheets while he was absorbed with the frame of my bed; both happy to ignore the elephant in the room a moment longer.

“Thank you, for helping me…again. I’m sorry to keep being such a burden to you.”

He looked up like I’d just insulted his brother. “who said that you’re a burden? is that what you’ve been going around thinking this whole time?”

I felt my cheeks go hot. I scratched at my bandages. They made my arms feel stiff and thick, the texture coarse. My usual drags, though dollar-store bargains, felt like Egyptian cotton in comparison. That’s when I noticed:

“Sans, what happened to my clothes?” Currently I was wearing a toothpaste colored hospital gown that was more of a curtain. I glanced around but I couldn’t see my things folded away anywhere. There weren’t exactly a lot of places for storage.

Sans swallowed before he spoke. “you were…umm…hurt pretty bad… the doctor, he had to remove your clothes to be able to treat your wounds. but…umm…i brought you some new ones.” He nodded at a plain paper bag at the foot of my bed, all the while staring at the bed frame. “i hope they fit okay, i’m no expert in this kinda stuff.” He shrugged sheepishly.

“Thank you, Sans. That’s really thoughtful of you.”

I thought I saw him blush right before he coughed and shot to his feet. “well, uh, y’know it’s…umm…no big deal, really. metta gave me suggestions, and uhh…i-i’ll let you get dressed!” He left and closed the door.

The nurse entered soon after and I worked my way up from the bed with her help. When she changed my bandages I saw my arms and legs were cut pretty bad. They would leave behind a slew of unsightly silver slivers.

“They’ll heal up quickly,” Bronwen assured me in her sweet, motherly manner. “With a face like yours, they’ll be little more than beauty marks.”

I gave a pessimistic chuckle as she helped me to stand. “I don’t know how many would agree with you there. I’m really not that much to look at.”

Bronwen hummed thoughtfully, but said nothing.

Once she felt sure I wasn’t going to collapse and kill myself if left to battle gravity unassisted, Bronwen drew the curtain around my bed and let me dress. I emptied the contents of the bag onto the bed. The breath caught in my throat.

There was a white silk blouse, with dark purple Lilies of the Nile embroidered in detail around the hem, snaking up the right side to the heart. The jeans ended an inch above the ankle, and had a little ribbon detail running all the way down the sides. They would look amazing with my boots.

Just then I noticed something else peeking out from under the pile of clothes. I pulled out the sheer number and held it up. For a moment I couldn’t work out what it was: it looked like some kind of uncomfortable minimalist corset which had come with matching underwear. But after a moment of staring, my mind finally worked out its identity.

I was holding a see-through lace basque, minus the suspenders, with cheeky panties that looked like they were made from cobwebs.

The tips of my ears started to burn. I wouldn’t even have known what the thing was called, except the new intern at my mom’s work had once been employed at Victoria’s Secret and kept dumping her old catalogs onto us.

“Frisk?” Bronwen called softly. “Are you alright? Do you need any help?”

I shoved the lingerie into the bag. “Y-yeah! Totally fine! I’ll just be a minute.” I heard her hover for a moment and then step away again.

I glanced at the bag, rolled it up tightly and pushed it under the pillow. Then I got to work wiggling into the blouse and pants.

 

Sans was waiting outside, leaning against the wall, texting on his cell. He didn’t even hear the practice door go, or notice me walk up to him.

“Sans?”

He jumped and reflexively put his phone away. “h-hey frisk! you look… you…look…” He glanced me up and down but didn’t finish.

“I know I must look like the walking dead right now…” I joked, scratching at the bandage that peeked from the low neckline of the blouse. “I probably make Napstablook look sunburned.” _Walls, please, absorb me now._

“n-no! not at all,” Sans said quickly. “i was just thinking that, they looked good in the store but, they look way better now.” He stepped up beside me and offered his arm, and we started walking toward the stairs. “glad i chose well. i ain’t much of an eye for fashion. i was about to go for the four suits they were selling for 10G, but then i wasn’t sure how you would wear a pack of cards.”

I slapped him in the arm but still giggled. “Where are we going?”

“i figured you’d want a decent breakfast.” We descended to the first floor, and walked past the fountain to the restaurant where we usually only had our evening meal. The room was different at this time of day. There was no one performing on stage, and there was a self-service buffet set up across the left-hand wall. Several monsters I didn’t recognize were there, chatting eagerly. Sans walked me over to our usual table and then left to fetch the food. I didn’t think I’d have much of an appetite, but when he brought our plates back I wolfed mine down.

“looks like you’re on the mend,” Sans laughed when I’d downed my fourth hash brown, fifth pancake and second helping of scrambled eggs. “you’re definitely not off your food.”

“I didn’t think I’d be this hungry. I feel like I haven’t eaten for weeks.”

“just make sure to skip the hotdogs; the ones at this joint are the wurst.” I grabbed a bread roll and lobbed it at him as he laughed.

Sans watched without further interruption as I emptied my plate and downed my tumbler of water. I sighed, content, and slumped back in my chair. I winced and shot back up, regretting my lack of care. I lowered myself much more slowly the second time. “You’d think I’d learn to remember something like this more quickly,” I said, holding my sides.

“frisk…” Sans began. “about yesterday…”

I bit my lip and turned away.

“i know you’re probably not keen on talking about it, but you’re the only one who knows what happened.” I knew he was right—I’d known since I woke up that I’d have to tell him the truth whether he asked me or not. Sans deserved to know. Still an uncomfortable lump formed in my throat. I swallowed but it did little to help. Sans looked concerned. “i understand it’s hard. say whatever you can. i…don’t want to push you but, if there’s someone here…someone who might try and hurt you again, i ne— w-we need to know about it.”

I nodded. I inched closer to the table and leaned in, as did he—our lowered voices audible to no one but us over the din. I cleared my throat, trying to figure out how to start. “The man who attacked, I don’t know how he got here.”

“was he human?”

I nodded. There was pressure behind my eyes, and spoke quickly. “He said he’d come looking for me; I don’t know how he found me, I thought I did everything perfectly, he shouldn’t have known, I don’t know how he _did_ , and when he said he was going to bring me home, I—”

“frisk!” Sans reached over and took hold of my hands. I realized I was clutching the table cloth for dear life. Tears had etched two narrow streaks down each side of my face. Sans waited until I took a few steadying breaths.

“frisk, you…you _know_ him?”

I looked down. “Yes. His name is John…” I took a ragged breath. “He’s my father.”

Sans was suddenly still. “what?”

“He’s my father…” I repeated, even though it sounded just as surreal to me.

Sans didn’t move, save for giving my hands a comforting squeeze. “i see. i’m sorry.” He turned away, glaring at nothing in particular for a moment. “do you know where he might be now?”

“He fell from the platform.”

“he fell below?”

“If you mean that dark abyss then yes. Someone attacked him while he was chasing me. He lost his footing; I…have no idea what happened afterwards.”

There was a loud chatter at the door. A group was filing in; sleepy hotel guests and nearby Hotland regulars. The buzz and babble was starting to build. Several of them turned to look over at our table—some glancing furtively, some gaping openly; some curious, others angry. In a few moments it felt like we were sitting in a fishbowl.

“c’mon,” Sans smiled and jerked his head at the door. “let’s go somewhere else.” He rose and took my hand gently, leading me toward the lobby. At the entrance, however, a large and blobby monster was squeezing in, filling the doorway, nearly getting stuck in the process.

“Squishms!” the monster behind the restaurant reception called out as soon as she saw him. “What’d I tell you about bothering me at work?”

We took refuge in the corner of the room to let him pass and stay away from the burgeoning crowd around him. Other, overeager, patrons chose to push their way between him and the wall, or to stand around and cloister him in a garland of spectators.

“Doesn’t look like this traffic jam is going to resolve anytime soon,” I said. But Sans winked at me.

“yeah, you’re probably right. good thing you’re with a guy with a sans-sational sense of direction.” He took both of my hands in his and fell backward into the wall. I stumbled forward with a yelp, but he held me tightly. We didn’t hit a solid surface. Instead I thought we were going to plummet. Yet, seconds later, we stood by the main entrance behind a decorative pot plant, watching the chaos from the other side. “this place has a lot of shortcuts. you just gotta know where you’re going.”

“Next time warn me!”

We both laughed. Then he glanced down at my hip and his smile faded.

“What’s wrong? Why so serious all of a sudden?” I said, trying to keep the mood light.

He was quiet when he spoke. “where’s your satchel?”

Whoops.

“Umm…”

“you left it behind, didn’t you?” Disappointment. No…defeat.

“It just gets in the way,” I mumbled. “I don’t really need it. Besides, I’ve got the—” I stopped. The tanto…I remembered the light shimmering off it as it flew out of my hands. “The blade! It’s still down there. I need to get it back or Undyne will kill me!” I stepped toward the door, but in one fluid motion Sans caught and spun me around as if we were dancing. I found myself pinned back against the wall. One of his hands held my wrist as he leaned closer. My heartbeats were suddenly distinct as music, my skin drinking in the pressure from each of his fingers. Then I heard something plop down beside me. I glanced down, and there by my feet was my messenger bag. I’d been so focussed on Sans that I hadn’t noticed him reach through the wall, through yet another ‘shortcut,’ and retract it.

“you stay right here,” he said softly just inches from my face. “i’ll go get your blade. you’re not going back down there like that. i know you’re tough as diamond,” he placed his free hand gently on my cheek, “and i don’t doubt your abilities. but…for the sake of my peace of mind, would you mind keeping a hold of your bag? it would just make me feel…more comfortable. please?”

I could barely hear his last word, even so close. I placed my hands onto his shoulders, the suede coat soft to the touch. He didn’t step away—he wound his other hand around to the small of my back, while brushing a strand of hair behind my ear with the other. My skin registered every touch with wonderful detail.

_I’m falling too much into this,_ I thought. _I shouldn’t let myself hope I…shouldn’t…think…I mean assume…I mean… What do I mean?_

He pulled me closer, brought us chest to chest. I wound my arms around his shoulders and rested my head against his collar bone. It hadn’t been so long ago that he’d held me like this, and yet it felt like years. This time was no less vivid. I wished I’d saved recently so that I could keep replaying this moment, but I hadn’t touched a save point since before entering the lab. I could only try and press every sense carefully into memory: his soft voice and gentle eyes, the scent of pine on his jacket, his warm embrace.

Our silence felt comfortable. I returned his calm gaze. There was no place so warm as his arms. 

That’s when we heard loud, sycophantic laughter.

Sans turned and, seeing who it was, glowered across the room. “weasle.”

I followed his gaze to find a monster I’d rarely seen before, sauntering toward us, two gaudy women on either arm. I took a step back, and Sans let his arms drop eventually.

“Who’s that?”

“he’s a cousin of burgurpants,” he hissed. “better known among decent folk as ‘toxic vermin’. do _not_ listen to a word he says!”

“Weeell, hello Sansy,” Weasel drawled as he reached us. His long face was pulled up into a smile. The girls stood back and tittered behind him. Weasel looked me up and down slowly. “And what do we have here. _Oh my._ I never knew you kept such _fiiine_ company.” Slick as oil he slid up to me and ran a furry hand down the length of my thigh. A shudder of disgust ran through me. Sans seized Weasel by the wrist and wrenched him off me. The rodent squealed. The girls shrieked. He wrested free and nearly fell backward into a flower pot.

“Brute!”

Some of the monsters in the lobby turned to look. Weasel nursed his wrist, the girls patting it pathetically. “The king should have you quarantined.”

Sans dug his hands into his pockets and placed himself between us. “what do you want here weasel?”

“So serious,” Weasel said, his voice melting back into a slimy coo. “Aren’t you supposed to be the court jester? The regular wise-guy? Why so cold, huh? Did you break your _funny bone_?” He snickered. The girls laughed too loudly.

“get to the point or get lost.”

I hovered, uncertain whether I should add something, possibly leave. I made my choice, steeled myself, and took a step, intending to stand beside Sans and defend him. But Sans reached back and placed his hand on my hip, holding me in place behind him. When I placed my hand on his, he took hold of it. He glanced over his shoulder for the briefest second and shook his head infinitesimally.

Weasel noticed our hands. “You know, you two seem to be _very_ good friends.”

“So?” I blurted out automatically. Weasel’s grin revealed pointed teeth.

“ _Well_ , I just mean it’s obvious to anyone who isn’t blind, deaf and mute.”

“weasel…” Sans hissed.

“I just thought I’d give you a bit of friendly advice to keep the familiar gestures to a minimum. Otherwise people might get the wrong idea. They might think you and the bonehead were a little closer than friends, and _no one_ would swallow that. I can’t imagine how _repulsed_ the Underground would be, how _appalled_ , _aghast_ , _nauseated_ —”

“that’s enough!” Sans shouted.

The last of the lobby had turned their attention toward us and now the whole room stood in wordless witness.

Cold flushes ran through me. I started to feel light-headed; the air more viscous than usual.

_‘Repulsive’? Is that what I am? Is that really what…everyone thinks when they see me standing beside Sans?_

Truth to be told I was surprised that the thought hadn’t occurred to me earlier. I knew that I should just have been grateful that Sans saw me as a friend instead of an antagonist—but only now did it dawn on me how wrong I must have looked to everyone. Despite how friendly they were, the fact was I _wasn’t_ one of them. To them, it must have been the equivalent of the sight of someone dating a car in the Overground.

After all, in the Underground, humans, in general, were hated.

“you’re getting on my nerves. isn’t there anyone else who’s life you can disrupt?”

“Geeze, _someone’s_ in a foul mood today. Anyway, the King wants to see you, urgently. In fact you’re not to delay in the least.” While Sans was distracted, Weasel peaked over his shoulder at me. “While your comedic friend is busy, I could keep you company myself—”

I snapped out of my musings. “N-no! Umm…I think…I think I just need a little air.” I slipped past Sans.

“frisk!” I felt him grab my fingers, but I slipped out of his grip.

“I’m okay,” I said quickly without turning back. “I’m…I’m okay.”

I closed my ears to the sounds, closed my eyes to everyone’s stares, and walked out without another pause. Beside the front doors, I leaned against the brickwork and gazed up at the cavernous ceiling. Minerals in the rock glimmered like stars in the night sky. For a minute I imagined I had wings and could take off into those midnight heights. Nothing holding me down, no one able to give chase; no more wondering what is right, no more questioning if someone else will approve of what I do or think.

Is that the true definition of ‘freedom’?

I took a deep, steadying breath and wiped my face on my sleeve. I’d need to buy new clothes soon, something that I could dirty without guilt. But first, I’d need my tanto blade back. I moved back toward the entrance to the basement platform. The people flowed around me like a river around a boulder. I didn’t register them anymore than they probably registered me. I was empty.

This was the closest I was going to get to being a ghost.

 

~~~

~I am nothing now.

~But I can still see.

~The half-child has returned.

~Fallen, like his mother before him.

~There is something wrong with him.

~I ignored it before.

~He is incomplete.

~The king and queen love him as their own.

~~~

 

“frisk!”

She slipped past me so quickly I nearly missed it. I grabbed her hand but it fluidly slipped from my grasp.

“I’m okay. I’m…I’m okay,” she said breathlessly.

“frisk? frisk!”

She didn’t turn around but headed for the door, weaving past incoming patrons.

“wait! frisk!”

“Just a moment.” The slimy rodent and his pitiful blowup dolls stepped in front and blocked my way. I could just see Frisk step through the front doors, lean back against the wall outside, then slide to the ground.

I wanted to be there. I wanted to be there with her now.

“For pity’s sake, have you sunk so far that you can’t even make decisions without her standing here?”

“out of my way roadkill.”

He made no move to let me pass. “You should really learn to be nicer to people.” He crossed his arms and raised his nose into the air. “It’s conduct like this that gets you in trouble with the monarchy.” The barbies tittered.

I grabbed his fur by the nape and raised him off the ground. I wasn’t the tallest in the Underground, but the scumbag was only shoulder height to me. His smug expression vanished and he shielded himself, whimpering. “Please not the face.” His wide eyes, glued to mine, reflected blue.

“i’m happy to do this the easy way or the hard way. there are very few things i care about anymore, but i promise you, you’re _not_ one of them.”

The hairy scourge swallowed, eye twitching.

“C-c’mon Sans, don’t hurt him,” one of the girls said, voice taught and high.

“Yeah, leave him alone!” the other tried a harder tone, the attempt coming out weak and fearful. “H-he’s the King’s messenger! We’ll…we’ll tell the Royal Guard!”

One glance at the girls and they cowed, fools’ bravery quashed.

“go on,” I said back to the rat, “give me a reason.”

“I was serious,” he said, though his teeth rattled, “Asgore told me to make sure you saw him right away. I’m not making it up. Go ask him yourself…”

At first I’d been sure he’d invented the whole thing, but now I thought about it, it didn’t make much sense for him to fake a request from Asgore. However, if the matter had been about the intruders, Asgore would never have gotten this plague-carrier involved, even for something trivial. It was too risky to involve any outsiders in any way, and he was most aware of it out of all of us. So if it wasn’t about the intruders…what _did_ he want to talk about?

“It’s the King’s order,” the vermin choked. “You have to go now. And if you kill me, I guarantee you’ll never hear the end of it.”

I dropped him. He coughed and his girls came to shiver beside him. “threaten me with whatever you want, i don’t give a damn. i don’t know what you’re up to, but i’m watching you…very closely.”

I left him simpering on the ground and pushed through the people now milling about as usual again. At the doors I glanced around. Frisk wasn’t there.

I stopped one of the passersby. “hey, did you see a girl here, about my height?”

He went quiet and thought. I started scanning around for someone else to ask. “Actually, some guy just walked by talking to himself. I thought he was crazy. He said ‘the angel is at the precipice of Below’ and something about golden flowers… Don’t know if that helps.”

“Did this guy have dark hair and sharp features?”

“Y-yeah, I guess so—hey buddy!”

I took off running. I couldn’t be sure that it was Arach, but I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t either. Either way, I didn’t want Frisk being alone.

Near the slope to the platform a familiar figure came into view. To my great relief, it was Frisk, and no one else seemed to be around. She was staring down into the dark.

“there you are!”

She jumped as I took her by the arm. “Sans! God you scared me. I didn’t hear you coming.” She turned away from me quickly, brushing a curtain of chestnut hair between us, probably trying to hide her bloodshot eyes.

“what are you doing here? hey, you okay?” I gently turned her face toward mine. Her cheeks were still damp.

She swallowed quickly. “I’m fine.” She wiped her face with her sleeve. “Really, it’s nothing.”

I brushed her hair behind her ear. “just ignore that bastard weasel. don’t let him get to you—there’s not a monster in the underground who’s heard him say anything worthwhile before.” She nodded, smiled a bit and sniffed. “you should be resting gal. how come you came back to this awful place?” She looked down at her feet. “you weren’t planning to try getting that blade yourself, were you?”

“It’s not there anymore.” She pointed down the incline to where gravel met tile. I could spot nothing but ground glass and rock. “That’s about where it landed when John disarmed me. I still saw it while I was climbing but it’s not there anymore. He said it had disappeared…” She trailed off.

“wait, who said?”

“Arach” she said. “He’s the someone who pulled me over the ledge and into safety yesterday. He was here when I arrived a while ago. We talked…he’s nice. He said his name was Arach.”

I swallowed. “frisk…what else did he say?”

“S-s-sans!”

Heavy panting and puffing approached along with thudding footsteps. We turned to see Alphys rushing toward us. She waved, as if there was a chance I was going to take off in another direction, until she came to a halt before us. Before saying a word she doubled over, taking gasping breaths.

“T-thank goodness… _huh_ …I found you… _huh_ …wasn’t sure… _pant_ …you weren’t… _huh_ …in the hotel…”

“alphys…you could just have called me on my cell.”

“Y-yes I kn-know…it was just, I w-wasn’t sure if this was something… y’know, if you’d prefer…” she trailed off, but looked straight at me.

Oh.

I glanced between the two of them. I really didn’t want to leave Frisk now, at all. Arach had caught up to her while my back was turned, and something told me he was up to something. But if Alphys had come running, then it was urgent.

Frisk caught on. “It’s alright,” she said. “I’m…I’ll go back to the hospital floor now. You go take care of things; don’t worry about me.”

_But I_ am _worried about you._

“that’s okay, i’ll walk you back,” I said and placed my hand on her back before she could protest. “you know papyrus would never forgive me if you fell down the stairs or got glomped by temmies just because i wasn’t around.”

I could already see Frisk planning some retort so I quickly turned to Alphys. “oh, hey, doc. would you look at this while i’m gone? i won’t be long.”

I quickly stuffed the note with the doodles into her hands and began walking, gently pulling Frisk along. She resisted for a moment, then went along with it, falling into step alongside me. Soon we were chatting easily again, and yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was somehow absent.

I grabbed her bag from the lobby, and then we headed up the stairs. Bronwen was waiting for us when we arrived and quickly started fussing over Frisk, tutting and muttering about rest and medicines. Frisk’s movements were the slightest bit labored, so I held her to me as I helped her over to her bed. Despite her insistence on being fine, I didn’t relent until she was lying down again. Once on her back, she let out a little sigh of relief.

“stay put,” I said, holding her by the shoulders. “don’t go looking for the blade, let me do that. and don’t go off doing something crazy. just once, please, don’t give me a reason to panic. just let me come find you here where i expect you to be.”

I smirked and she smiled back at me.

“Will you come back soon?”

I savored the soft words, flowing through me like a summer wind. I ran my hands down her arms to hold hers. “yes. so…just be good. okay?”

She nodded and her eyes fluttered closed.

I left her sleeping. Bronwen was still at the reception counter. I asked her to make sure Frisk didn’t leave, or at least that she didn’t try to ditch or stash the satchel I’d left by her bed.

“I doubt there’s a need to worry,” she told me. “It’s time for her medication now. I think she’ll sleep contentedly for quite a while afterwards.”

That offered a little reassurance, although I couldn’t count on Frisk to not try something wonderfully suicidal despite my request. I thanked Bronwen and left. Now it was time for the less fun part.

 

“W-we n-need to go b-back to the lab. R-r-right now!”

Alphys was jumping from one foot to the other when I came out of the front doors. No doubt she was seconds from spontaneous combustion.

“you know i would, but asgore wants to meet with me. it…sounded urgent.” Dubiously so, but still. I wanted to at least check in with him myself.

“O-o-oh. O-oh no. Oh. Oh. This…this isn’t good. Not g-g-good. Oh dear. O-oh.” She started to spin in circles. “N-not good. This p-p-picture…the Core r-readings…the vibr-brational r-r-recoil from the s-samples—”

“alphys! stop!” I had to physically grab her arm to stop her, and even then she continued to bounce on the spot, wringing her hands. “you’re not making any sense. what did you find?”

“I-I-I-I c-c-can’t explain. I g-g-gotta sh-show y-y-you. B-b-but if A-Asgore w-w-wants to see y-you…!” She crouched and began scratching at her head. “Oooh, what to d-do!”

“okay, calm down alphys. i’ll go see asgore now. you return to the lab and i’ll meet you there as soon as i’m done. do undyne and asgore know about this yet?”

“U-Undyne? N-no, n-not yet. B-but I ju-just sent a r-report to A-A-Asgore.” She paused, thinking, then suddenly, “Sh-sh-should I n-not have done th-that!?!”

I patted her shoulder to calm her. “no, it’s fine. you did good. now call undyne and brief her. don’t wait for me, i don’t know how long this will take and i’d rather everyone get updated sooner rather than later. run any analysis you can on that diagram i gave you. i’ll fill you in on what i know later, but if i’m gone longer contact gerson. i’ll come back as soon as i can.”

It took some more convincing, but finally Alphys agreed to return to her lab. I set off for the alleyway beside the resort. There was no time to lose. Walking without slowing my stride, I headed straight for the wall, and came out beside the king’s chamber.

The doors opened just then, two Royal Guards stepping out. I knew them, they were from Asgore’s personal bodyguards. Number 13a and 13b if I wasn’t totally wrong. They nodded when they saw me and stepped aside to let me pass.

“Sans. Good to see you.”

“is asgore here?”

“He is,” he replied, his voice muffled by his helmet. “But I’ll warn you, the lesser Courtiers have left, but his Core Council is still in session.” His voice betrayed a slight hint of his opinion of said Council.

“thanks for the heads up. he summoned me himself, so i think he’ll see me.”

The guard nodded, his silent companion already walking away behind him. “Alright then, go on in. Our shift is just changing. We’re headed to the Core. I’ll let the other’s know to expect you here.”

I entered the empty throne room. A faint scent of tea and cheap perfume hung in the air. The light from Above caught the freshly watered gold-flower petals, casting up a prism of colors. At the back of the room, beside the other, covered throne, was the entrance to the antechamber of the Barrier. But off to the side of the room was the entryway I wanted. Its doors were inlayed with semi-precious stones, carved with goats and fish, in the foreground a gilded Delta Rune symbol.

_‘Remember that the triangles represent monsters. The sphere represents something above. An Angel.’_

I shook my head and pushed the doors open. Inside was a small landing, with stairs leading up to a round room. The floor a perfect circle onto which light from Above filtered through a crack up in the high ceiling. Around it, on seats carved from the stone walls like the audience of a stadium, sat the King before the Core Council. Robed figures, sharp eyes peeking out from under their hoods, looking more like vultures perched and waiting for their meal.

Vile fuckers.

“I do accept your argument, good Councilman,” Asgore was saying. “Yet I must interject that we have not the proof to corroborate these fears.”

“Indeed,” answered one of the Councilmen, two long antelope horns flowing through his hood. “Your words cannot be denied, Your Majesty. Yet I must emphasize that our fears are valid and pressing.”

“Should proof materialize,” another continued, his mouth a parrot’s beak, scarlet wings laced before him, “the situation would deteriorate rapidly. We have a zero margin for error.”

“And this fact is our greatest fear,” added the Councilman with the strongest and loudest voice. Multiple horns jutted from his head like a crown of thorns. “We have no proof. But creation of the proof is not difficult. It isn’t even unlikely. What we desire is a control method. If something…if _someone_ should prove dangerous in their intents, we must have something in place that can defend against the unthinkable.”

Asgore was dabbing sweat from his brow. “Yes, yes, quite Councilman Gadran. I assure you that I am aware of this and am addressing the matter shortly…”

I cleared my throat. Asgore glanced down and noticed me. 

“O-oh! Sans…”

“weasel said you wanted to see me?” _Care to enlighten me how much truth there is to that?_

“Y-yes. That is correct. I did ask him to pass on that message. So glad you could come so quickly.” A mixture of things flitted across his face, not least of them was relief thanks to an excuse to get away from the Council. “Well, gentlemen, I must request that you excuse me. I have a matter of some urgency to attend to. We will continue our discussions at the next meeting.”

Asgore rose and began to make his way toward the stairwell leading down from his seat to the floor. The Councilmen didn’t move. Most of them stared ahead unseeing or followed Asgore’s descent wordlessly. Gadran, however, was staring at me. I returned his steady gaze. He never once flinched, save for narrowing his eyes when Asgore had nearly reached me.

“Goodnight gentlemen. Court is now dismissed.”

We left the room, and as far as I could tell, the Councilmen still didn’t rise from their seats. I imagined them sitting there, immobile as church towers, slowly growing over with mold and lichen waiting for the next meeting to convene.

Asgore closed the chamber doors and cleared his throat. “Yes, glad you could make it. So sorry for the short notice.”

“no problem, i know things are unpredictable right now.”

He hurried past me. “Would you care for a drink?” He’d made it to the refreshments table across the room before my halfhearted “sure” even reached his ears.

“is it about…the _situation_?”

“Oh! No, no. Not this time.” He poured himself a cup of tea, and then uncapped a ketchup bottle which he handed to me. “Although we shall need to catch up about that as well later. I would not have felt secure passing the message through another if it were about… _that_.”

_So, I was right._

“so what did you want to see me about? i doubt you called me here just to _ketchup_ over a cuppa.”

My humor earned no more than a weak chuckle. He looked off into the middle distance and seemed deeply distracted. Or bothered.

“Yes, well, I did indeed want your opinion on something.” He drummed out an indecipherable rhythm on the crockery with his claws. “I do not quite know how to say. It is rather worrisome though…”

“just say it. c’mon asgore, it’s only me.”

He hesitated some more, then, “have you noticed anything going on with Frisk? Has she been acting strangely?”

I lowered my bottle mid-sip. I spoke carefully, “going on? acting strangely? can’t really say I have. what did you mean, exactly?” Asgore didn’t respond right away. I shook the bottle a little, then took a mouthful.

“I suppose I should be more straightforward. No, I must. Sans, you and Tori are closest to her. She appears to trust you, to let her walls down around you. Would say that she has…well, fallen in love?”

I nearly choked. I coughed so hard that the flowers were sprayed with red droplets. When I wiped my mouth my hand came away more rubicund than ivory.

“Oh my, are you quite alright?”

“wait, what? love? wha—where would you get that kind of idea?” I pulled up my hood and laughed. It sounded strained even to me. “geez, asgore, that’s just…i mean, frisk in love? haha! i mean if she really wanted she could pose as a tennis player and no one would guess, ‘cause ‘love’ means nothing to her.”

Asgore quirked an eyebrow. “Y-yes…I suppose…”

I felt electric, like I needed to pace. The room started to rock a little, the yellow of the flowers pale. _Had_ Frisk been acting differently? As opposed to when? In the last couple days? In the last few runs? The past ten years? I couldn’t tell, couldn’t think. The only strangeness I could think of were the attacks, but they were a matter of the intruders, not her. _Could_ she have feelings for someone? Could I have missed that? No way, she’d have mentioned something to me. Unless…unless she felt she couldn’t. If she thought she’d be hurting her friends somehow by telling. The image of her walking beside me back to the hospital room, chatting pleasantly but distant, rose up. Had she been thinking of that then? Had she been thinking of someone for whom she felt…more than friendship? And the person she’d talked to right before then…

_Arach Nido. Has…Frisk fallen in love with—_

“My friend, do not worry, I do not question your judgement. Yours of all!” Asgore clapped a great paw on my shoulder. My attention snapped up from the floor. “Now, no need to look so harangued. Why, you are paler than the ghosts! If you keep on like this, the slightest thing might just… _spook_ you out of your _skin_!”

This time it was my weak chuckle that was buried under Asgore’s rolling belly laugh. “spook…heh…g-good one…”

“But truly, I am glad this matter was settled and that the news was good. I heard some worrisome rumors and, you know, the mind tends to jump to the worst conclusions first. Simply had to make sure, you understand. B-but all is well and good now, we can put it from our minds. And it is a true relief things are as you say. Otherwise it would have been quite a disaster.”

The feeling drained from my arms and legs. When I spoke, my own voice sounded strange to me. “i’m sorry what?”

Asgore finished his tea with long gulps. “Oh, let us not dwell on it. It is all…rather unpleasant.”

“you asked me if frisk was in love…” I was grappling to put together the facts floating around me like dangling daggers. “why is that important? what would you have done if i’d said ‘yes’?”

The toneless drumming started again. “I am certain you know the laws. The Councilmen are in uproar about it, it is what we were discussing earlier. The rumors going around; for sure there has not been any proof to it so far, just words on the wind. But if someone were to bring around something more incriminating…even something false. Can you imagine?!” He placed his cup into its saucer with too much force. “There would be mayhem across the Underground. I am not saying that Frisk would absolutely be _guilty_ but implicating her in such a crime would not be difficult for anyone… _determined_ enough to—”

Nothing was going in. Asgore’s words were rushing past me like foreign signs on a highway, my mind refusing to register them properly. I staggered forward and placed a hand on Asgore’s arm, a gesture which turned more into me leaning on him for support. The floor was bucking like a untamed bronco. “guilty? guilty of what?”

Asgore looked at me darkly, fighting words he didn’t want to say. “Love, Sans. You must know…love between human and monster is… _absolutely forbidden_.” He might as well have rammed a fist into my gut. “It is unthinkable. Humans are already dangerous. Such as they are, they are all but unconquerable to us. Love is a perilous power, Sans. You cannot fathom what can be born from it. Though our hope for reaching the surface world is a dim one, at least it exists. When humans steal our souls we cannot hope to win; but if humans ever again were to steal our love…we could not hope to survive. Perhaps not even mankind would survive.” He closed his eyes, mourning some past horror in his memory. “No…that is one thing we cannot permit, no matter what the cost. Yet I could not forgive myself if a girl as kind and gentle as Frisk were to be convicted unjustly. It is…too horrible to even imagine.”

I jerked away and backed to the wall as if Asgore had turned into hot coals. “you can’t mean…you’d…you’ll execute her?!”

“No! You misunderstand. There is nothing to fear, which is why I wished not to talk of it. She is innocent, you just said as much. And both of us know her as a trustworthy, honorable and kind. Only if a human were to be found acting upon such feelings would one need to…intervene.”

A phone began ringing then. Asgore searched around his cape and pulled out the cell phone. He answered, his tone instantly lighter. “Hello, Asgore here…ah, what great timing you have!…yes……yes, quite.”

I hung onto the wall behind me.

Before my eyes I saw the image of Frisk, blindfolded and hands tied, being lead down toward a great guillotine by the hooded figures of the Core Councilmen. Walking up the steps; pushed to her knees by the shoulders; leaning over and placing her neck in the wooden notch, a basket beneath, the lock closed with a snap.

I felt sick.

“Sans.”

My attention flicked up. Gadran was standing before me. His great, horned shadow blocked out all the light. He glanced over his shoulder; Asgore was lost in his conversation and had drifted to the other side of the room.

I righted myself and pushed my hands into my pockets. “to what do i owe the pleasure of having a councilman descend from his high perch just to speak to lil’ ol’ me?”

From close, the steely skin of his his face was clear. His narrow eyes were like two oval gems gleaming at me angrily.

“It is truly wondrous that you might assume me blind.”

“excuse me?”

“You may fool the king, but you will discover I am not so quickly deceived by your poor display.” He leaned an arm against the wall above me, stooping nearly double to reach my eye-level. “I know you are hiding something about the girl.”

“you’re wrong.”

“I think not. And I promise you, you will make your own life much easier by simply telling me what you know right now.”

I stared at him squarely. Neither of us flinched, determined to wear the other down. I said nothing. Finally Gadran drew a deep breath.

“She isn’t worth sacrificing yourself over. We are fellow monsters; if you protect her you will bring undue suffering onto yourself. This is something neither of us wants. I do not wish to see one of my own have to endure the unnecessary for someone lesser than us. I will ask you this final time: what are you hiding about her?”

I glared. “the good councilman will find that i cannot confess to that which i don’t know. too bad; you heard asgore: frisk is innocent.”

He ground his teeth together and straightened to full, towering height, shuddering with rage. Just as he was about to speak again, something appeared to cross his mind. His gaze wandered across the room, then suddenly he was calm again.

“Very well,” he said, stepping back as Asgore finished his call. “You have chosen your fate. I accept the stance you have taken. Farewell, Sans of Snowdin.” He walked away. Watching him leave, I had the sense of having been found out. There was no chance I’d given something away, but Gadran wasn’t the bluffing kind. Whatever realization had come to him, I’d have to figure how he was planning to use it.

Asgore approached again.

“Sans, Alphys just called me. We must make haste to her laboratory. There is something serious going on with…our _situation_. Her report arrived some time ago but I have not yet had a chance to look it over thanks to that Council meeting.”

I’d all but forgotten that she was waiting.

“y-yeah. she contacted me before i came here. i meant to tell you; undyne should be there waiting already.”

Asgore nodded and put down his cup and saucer. “Then let us waste no more time. Would you lead the way, friend? You know the shortcuts around here better than anyone else.”

 

We came out just outside of the lab entrance, and I knocked out the secret code. The second door opened and we hurried down. Alphys—on the verge of a breakdown—was working away at the computer while Undyne paced.

“Geez, Sans, the hell too you so long?” she spat. “You think we got just all the time in the—”

“G-g-guys!! Things are re-really bad!” Alphys shouted. “I… _I can’t track any of the intruders anymore!_ ”

“What!” Asgore shouted.

“how is that possible?”

“She doesn’t know, idiot!” Undyne snapped. “Do you reckon this’d be a problem otherwise?”

Alphys was bouncing. “Th-they just d-disappeared.”

“you told me about the first one; the one that went below. frisk said she saw one of them fall below as well. what about the last one? when did you lose it?”

“S-some wh-while ago. I…I went b-back to check o-on th-their whereabouts, b-but I can’t f-find them on my c-cameras. I c-can’t even tell wh-what happened. It’s like they d-don’t even exist anymore.”

Asgore’s expression was grave. “Could they just have left? Or perhaps perished?”

Undyne bit her lip. “Doubt it.”

“It…it gets worse. L-look at this!” Alphys pressed a key and an image appeared on screen. There were three horizontal lines evenly spaced, with the middle one labelled “Underground”. From the lines above (labelled “Overground”) and below (labelled “Below”) radiated colored waves; the ones coming from the bottom were red; the ones coming down from the top one were white. They pulsed at each other, battering the middle line where they met.

Asgore studied the image. “What are these? Seismic readings?”

“Uh-uh,” Undyne shook her head. “Energy radiation.”

The red waves were much brighter and clearer than the white ones.

“I-I’ve been m-monitoring them for a long time. Th-there’s always been some energy waves f-flowing into the Underground f-from Above a-and B-Below, b-b-but never this strong. I-I w-was just e-explaining to Undyne about it w-when you a-arrived.” She pulled out the wrinkled doodle I’d given her and smoothed it out on the table. “W-When you g-gave me this, I-I thought m-maybe it’s related…”

“Are they harmful?” Asgore turned to her. “Could they have some kind of impact on us?”

“N-not u-u-us…a-as such. B-but where the w-waves meet, they r-resonate with the Core…a-and—”

“the core could react.”

Alphys’s voice became very quiet. “Y-yes…i-in fact if it gets much worse…i-it probably will…”

We were all speechless, until Asgore said very carefully, “And just _how_ would it ‘react’?”

“U-u-um…e-e-explode?”

Undyne swiveled in her chair. “We need to shut the Core down right now!”

“we can’t do that,” I said. “all of the underground would lose power. everyone would panic.”

Asgore nodded. “We must avoid chaos. However, we should reduce the Core’s power output. That should buy us some time, do you believe so Alphys?”

“Y-y-yes…th-that sounds l-like it would work.”

Undyne pulled out her cell. “Then I’ll call the Core technicians right now.” She finished dialing and walked to the side of the room as someone picked up.

“alphys, do you know what the source of these energy surges are?”

She shook her head but started tapping on the keys. “N-n-no; I-I don’t h-have the hardware f-for that at-t-tached right now. But I was ab-ble to narrow d-down the exact l-location.”

Two little circles appeared at the top and bottom of the screen. The waves came from them. The red circle at the bottom hovered near the middle of the screen just above the bottom line.

But the white one was well above the top line. That’s when I saw…the white waves coming from Above were just as strong as the red ones from Below…they just came from farther away. By the time they reached the Underground they had grown weaker.

I pointed to the white circle. “why is this one way over here?”

Alphys just shook her head, a little manically. “I-I-I can’t say. I can o-only assume that f-for some reason i-it’s not as close. Maybe i-it’s located above the Overground s-somehow…”

Asgore sighed and crossed his arms. “However, you _do_ possess the equipment to identify the sources of the energies?”

“Y-yes. I-it’s in the other r-room. I-I’ll just g-go get it!”

She rushed away just as Undyne finished the call. “Alright, they’re shutting down some of the generators. It’s gonna take a while to finish though. There’s gonna be some power-cuts and less electricity, but we can tell everyone that it’s because there’s a fault at the Core that’s being fixed. I’m calling Mettaton now to tell ‘im to report that story, and to keep his damn yapper shut about what’s really going on.” She was punching numbers so hard I thought keys were going to go flying.

“Things are getting out of hand,” Asgore said and scratched his chin.

I sighed deeply. “but so far so good. we’re still on top. if we keep our eyes peeled, and react to whatever comes fast enough, sooner or later we’ll find the source of the intruders, these energy waves and everything. then we can take out the cause and the whole situation will be fixed.”

Asgore nodded. “Yes, you are correct. We must keep our determination strong, even in tough circumstances.”

Although saying it was easier than doing it. I felt much less confident than I sounded. More than that, I wanted to go check up on Frisk. Especially after what Gadran had said… I didn’t like the idea that she had no one but the nurse guarding her.

“i’m going to shoot off; i should check in with pap, and i’ve got some other stuff i need to…uhh…see to.”

“You are not staying for the results of the energy source analysis?”

I shrugged, and tried to sound casual. “nah, it’s cool. call me if it’s groundbreaking. but i’ll catch up with alphys real soon again anyway—”

“AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

“That was Alphys!” Undyne threw her phone aside and ran up the stairs. We raced up to the first floor, but couldn’t see her. “Alphys! Alphys where are you!?”

Whimpering sounded from above us. We headed up the escalator to the second floor, Undyne leading the way. There, crouched beside the far table, Alphys was shaking and scratching her head, clawing vents that were already bleeding.

“ _No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…_ ”

Undyne ran to Alphys’s side and put her arms around her. “Alphys, calm down. What happened? Are you alright?!” Undyne grabbed hold of her hands to stop her from scratching.

Where Alphys knelt she was facing the wall. Just above her, a panel was open. A secret safe. As far as I could tell, it was empty. Alphys raised a shaking claw to point at it.

“I-i-i-i-t’s g-g-g-g-gone.”

Undyne shook head her. “What is? What’re you talking about?”

“Th-th-th-th-the m-m-m-machine. The b-box…” Alphys wept. “I-I-I meant to u-use it to s-send a reverse s-signal at the energy s-sources, to t-tell what th-they were. But it’s… _it’s b-been stolen!_ ”

Undyne hugged her and gently petted her head. “Ah, c’mon Alphys. It ain’t the end of the world. You don’t need to cry. We ain’t angry at you. Can you make another one?”

“Th-that’s n-not the p-point. I-I-I u-used a strong energy c-crystal from the W-Waterfall to p-power it. If it’s a-a-activated n-near the C-C-Core with th-these energy waves r-right now…it c-could trigger a ch-chain reaction. _It could trigger an explosion right away!_ ”

We stood, unable to speak, listening to her sniffing weakly.

“Undyne,” Asgore said. “Call the technicians. Tell them to shut the Core down.”

She glanced around. “Uummm….I can’t.”

“What? Why?”

“They said that after they started the slowdown process, they’d have to wait until the generators cooled before the system came out of lockdown.”

And Frisk was there…sleeping beside the largest bomb in the Underground…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Again, sorry this took a while. Have to admit that part of the reason was writer's block.  
> I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up, but I'm going to aim for next week.  
> Peace out my fellow Sarisk / Frans shippers!


End file.
